Undertale: A Shift (CANCELLED)
by EndertheDark
Summary: Frisk was having a great time during their genocide of the Underground. That is until a certain someone decided to give them a REALLY bad time. But even she met her end at the hands of Frisk . . . or did she? (IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift" AND IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED "Undertale" BOTH PACIFIST AND GENOCIDE ROUTE, DO NOT READ THIS STORY. Female Chara.)
1. Prologue: Part 1

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _The Judgment Hall..._

Sunlight was pouring into the judgment hall through the tall windows, and at the same time, there was a dripping sound. In fact, that was seemingly the only sound that was breaking through the complete silence...unless someone were to get closer to the source of the sound. If one were to do so, they would begin to hear, not something, but _someone._ The sound one would be hearing was the quiet sobbing of a young child. This young child was a boss monster named Asriel Dreemurr, the son of Asgore Dreemurr the Royal Scientist, and Toriel Dreemurr, Captain of the Royal Guard. This all started when that demon disguised as a human fell into the Underground. When they first left the ruins, things didn't seem so bad. Nobody could have guessed that things would have turned out this way.

* * *

 _Earlier in Snowdin..._

"What the... wh-why would anyone do this?!" Chara finally broke the deafening silence with, when she finally found her voice. Monsters had started to disappear and she had been asked to aid the royal guard in searching for monsters that had been reported missing... only to find piles of dust near where they had last been seen. Dogamy and Dogaressa, the lead Royal Guards, reported seeing a human slowly shambling away from the dusty remains of Snowdrake. They were both killed. After that was when Chara decided it was too dangerous to let anyone fight the so-called "human".

 _This is all my fault,_ Chara thought. _I noticed how high that murderer's LV was, and I did NOTHING! I never thought I'd say this...but whatever that thing is... it's way worse than a human. And even worse nobody can beat it! I have to get back to Snowdin, and warn everybody!_

But before she headed to Snowdin Town, she decided to leave a message for the human.

"So, looks like you're having fun, huh?" Chara commented dryly. The human just stared at her with a blank expression.

"Listen, I may not understand why you're doing this, but if you keep going the way you are now," Chara said as black pits replaced her eyes, " **I will make your life hell.** "

Though they tried to hide it, Chara definitely could see an obvious flicker of terror from the human. With that Chara took a "shortcut" back to Snowdin to warn every one of the impending attack.

* * *

 _Later..._

"Ugh! I might as well just disable the rest of these puzzles if the human isn't going to even try to solve them." Asriel grunted. He was very frustrated and slightly hurt as he walked back to his house since the human wasn't even letting him explain his puzzles.

"Hey! You! Stop! DREEMURR DUDE!" came the voice of RG 01 just ahead of Asriel. He wouldn't have even looked in RG 01's direction when he was so frustrated, but the royal guard's voice was radiating concern and fear.

"RG 01? RG 02? What's wrong?" Asriel asked. RG 01 looked surprised at Asriel's question. As if he didn't know?

"You seriously didn't hear?! There's, like, an aggressive human coming towards Snowdin! Captain Toriel, like, told us to totally evacuate everyone in Snowdin and stuff," RG 01 declared before turning to RG 02 and saying,"Right, bro?"

". . ." As usual, RG 02 stayed completely silent. This revelation, however, made Asriel take on a mortified expression. Did this mean that the human that he tried to make a good first impression on was skipping the puzzles so they could try to kill him?! Such terrifying information was almost too much for him to handle.

"I know, it's pretty scary, huh? Well, just stay chill. We'll bring you someplace safe, OK?" said RG 01. With that, he turned and walked a few paces along with RG 02, but they both stopped when Asriel wasn't following them."Well, little dude? You comin' or what?"

". . . No. Not yet. There's something _REALLY_ important I need to take care of." Asriel said firmly. This was probably not the response the Royal Guards were expecting, and _certainly_ not the answer they wanted to hear.

"Whatever it is it better be _REALLY_ important, little dude." RG 01 stated flatly. What Asriel said he was going to do, was completely absurd.

"HAVE YOU ACTUALLY LOST YOUR MIND?!" RG 01 shouted, startling RG 02 and Asriel. "You, like, honestly can't be serious. The human actually totally killed every Royal Guard sent to intercept them! What makes you think _YOU_ stand a chance?!"

Asriel inhaled and exhaled sharply, "I know how dangerous this is going to be. But I _need_ to try." Asriel said reasserting himself.

RG 02 sighed, knowing there was no way to convince Asriel to come with them now.

"fine, just...if you even _think_ that the human is getting near; just run...don't even think twice about it...okay?"

Asriel nodded affirmatively. "I'm the absolute deity over monsterkind! I won't die!" He declared confidently. With that Royal Guards left, albeit reluctantly, and Asriel got to work. He figured that he could die with what he was going to do, so he left a note where he knew Chara would find it. With that taken care of, he left to wait at the end of Snowdin that lead into Waterfall.

* * *

 _Elsewhere..._

"Okay, everyone that can evacuate, do it. But if you can't, just barricade yourselves in your houses. After that, you can only expect the worst and hope for the best." This was several minutes earlier when Chara and her mother along with the rest of the royal guard were working on evacuating Snowdin. Now there was no one left in Snowdin town except for Chara and Asriel, who had decided she was going to barricade herself in. Just as she had finished up with Toriel she headed back to her and Asriel's house.

 _Asriel's okay,_ Chara was thinking to herself as she jogged back to their house, _Once you go through the door, Asriel is gonna be waiting for you in the living room._ However, before Chara could enter her home, she found a note taped to the door. What she read on the note, however, caused her to experience fear like she didn't even believe was possible. She didn't even have to keep reading the whole letter to know what her foolish little brother was up to. She took off running not even bothering to look back.

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO! PLEASE NO!_ Chara internally screamed as she sprinted to the area that was the beginning of Waterfall. _ASRIEL YOU DAMN IMBECILE! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID TO THINK YOU COULD STOP THAT THING?!_

* * *

Frisk had just arrived at Snowdin and was very excited to see everyone's reactions when they started slaughtering everyone out of the blue. The only problem was that there was literally only one monster in the whole town. Someone who introduced himself as "MK". Frisk was rather upset by the desertion of the town. It was so frustrating to them, that they couldn't kill any of the town dwellers, they were even half hoping someone would exit one the abandoned buildings.

 _ **BUT NOBODY CAME.**_

Pushing past the disappointment, Frisk moved on through the town. (Though they did find time to steal a lot of Bisicles and Cinnamon Bunnies.) After moving past what was apparently Asriel and Chara's house, Frisk entered an area covered with fog that made it impossible for them see farther than a meter or two. They stopped when they spotted the silhouette of Asriel in the mist.

"S-Stop, newcomer!" Asriel called out. This didn't really do much to deter Frisk as they ignored Asriel's command and took another step forward while smiling sadistically. It was so obvious to them that Asriel was terrified. "H-Hey, I'm t-trying to talk! Quit m-moving!" Asriel took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, and continued his speech.

"I, Asriel, the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath, have some things to say! First off, you're a freaking DOOFUS! Not only do you seem to hate my puzzles, but the way you keep wandering about with all that...m-m-monster d-dust all over you. It just seems like...like you're picking a dangerous path for your life to take. **ALTHOUGH!** I, the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath, foresee a better path for you! I think everyone can be good if they just try to be! And me, I don't even really need to try at all! URA HA HA HA HA HA!" Frisk had decided they were done delaying this pathetic creature's death. "H-HEY! STOP MOVING! This is just what I mean! Newcomer! I think you just need someone there for you! You just need a friend! But don't worry! I, Asriel, will happily be your first friend! I can help you be a good person!" Frisk had run out of patience and started slowly walking towards Asriel, step by step. "You're approaching me again. Are you offering a hug of your friendship?! Yippee! My lessons are already working! I accept you with open arms!" Frisk smiled sadistically, they had Asriel right where they wanted him. The were about to punch Asriel down with their Tough Glove...

 _ **BUT SOMEBODY CAME.**_

Just before Frisk could kill Asriel, Chara came in from out of nowhere and slashed at them with her knife, forcing Frisk to jump back to dodge. "Sorry, mirror! Not gonna happen!" And before Asriel could say anything, Chara grabbed him by the arm and she dragged him with her through a "shortcut". And then they were just gone. Frisk wasn't too happy about Chara intervening, but they knew they would run into Chara and Asriel again. They knew.

* * *

Author's Note

Alright, please don't hate on me for this abomination of a first chapter. If you can't tell, this is my first story that I have EVER written. OK? Please understand that I am lacking in experience.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _In the Judgment Hall..._

Chara was anticipating that the "human" would be arriving soon. She was kneeling down by Asriel, and was doing everything she could think of to comfort him, but to no avail. That wasn't surprising to her, seeing as both their parents had been slaughtered by the "human." "Listen Asriel; I'm gonna beat this thing. Then it'll reset, and everyone will be okay again," Chara said in a last ditch effort to comfort Asriel. It seemed to work slightly, but not very much. Then Chara and Asriel heard footsteps. Plodding and intimidating steps. She and Asriel knew those steps very clearly, despite how much they were echoing. Asriel looked terrified as he pictured the "human" wearing a striped shirt and wielding a sharp dagger, slowly stalking toward Chara and himself. "Well...it looks like it's time for me to take care of this. Asriel...please stay as far away from the two of us as possible, OK?"

As scared as Asriel was, he didn't want to leave his sister alone with the "demon," as Chara called them. "B-but Ch-Chara, I can't l-leave you alone...!"

Chara sighed sadly, "I'm sorry Asriel, but I'm the last line of defense between that demon and the surface world. Listen, though. I promise you that I won't die. And you know how I am when it comes to promises. 'When I make a promise...'"

Asriel managed a small smile, "When you make a promise, you always do everything you can to keep it."

Chara smiled back at him saying, "That's right, so please just get as far away as you can." With that, she and Asriel hugged, and Asriel went into the next room, but peered over the edge of the doorway into the judgment hall, while staying close enough to see and hear what his sister and the "demon" were up to.

* * *

Frisk stalked slowly down the gray hallway, very amused by Flowey previously mistaking them for his late cousin, Mettacrit, and relishing in Flowey's terror when he realized that nothing was stopping Frisk from cutting him down, right then and there. He managed to get away by burrowing into the earth and hiding in the throne room, but that didn't matter to Frisk...yet. But when they entered the judgment hall, they saw someone who was the only threat to reaching their goal...whatever that was. Believe it or not, Frisk actually had no idea why they were murdering everyone in the Underground. They just felt like they had to. Regardless of that, Frisk saw the only threat to them just ahead.

Chara.

"Heya, mirror," Chara stated blandly, somewhat enjoying the slight fear radiating from the creature that stood before her.

"You've been pretty busy, haven't you?"

"Anyway, I've got a question for you."

"Do you think that anybody can change?"

"That anybody can be a good person?"

"Do you believe that even the worst possible person can change, just by trying?"

Frisk was, once again, done listening and took a step forward. But they didn't expect Chara to start giggling and even less expected her to break into full blown laughter.

"Alright," Chara said as she composed herself, "I suppose it doesn't even matter. So I'll ask a better question." Chara's eyes then suddenly were replaced by black pits. Frisk found themself staggering backward, not at the view of Chara's empty eye sockets, but at what she said next.

" **Do you wanna have a bad time?** "

"Because if you get any closer to me...you are REALLY not going to like what happens next." Frisk found themself smiling at this, and took one more step forward as if daring Chara to do her worst.

What slightly surprised Frisk was Chara's sad sigh, and casual shrug as she said, "Welp. Sorry, old man. This is why I only make promises I can keep." Then the room lost all its color as the conventional fight structures appeared and Frisk's soul became visible.

"It's a beautiful day out on the surface. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you..." The room went completely black for about half of a second before returning, with Chara staring Frisk down, black pits for eyes, and gripping her enchanted knife, ready to attack.

" **Should go back to hell.** "

Then a single knife constructed from hell magic, a hellknife, shot up through the floor, impaling Frisk and killing them instantly. Frisk was completely taken aback by the incredible power of Chara, and was rather reluctant to reload this time, but knew that was no going back now. Frisk pressed the "Continue" button and reappeared in front of Chara. What Chara said next, however, made Frisk go pale.

"Heya. So you came back again, huh? Whatever, it doesn't matter. **I guess I'll just have to kill you again, huh?** "

Frisk was not happy that Chara, unlike the monsters, could very clearly remember that she had killed them, although they really shouldn't have been surprised, since Chara, as a human, could very much have DETERMINATION. But Frisk decided that they had come too far to turn back, so they braced themself for the next attack after they dodged the knife from the floor. However, there was probably not any way to be prepared for the next assault.

It was a complete onslaught.

Attacks were flying at Frisk from every direction possible. At one moment, they had just managed to leap over a row of hellknives, only to be slammed into the wall of the judgment hall and to have to jump away from hellknives emerging from said wall. It was incredible how much power Chara had. After dying at least 30 times to Chara's first attack, it was finally Frisk's turn. They decided to do a "check" on Chara to see her stats. What Frisk saw, however, was not exactly something they expected.

*Chara Dreemurr - LV 1 - HP 99 - ATK 99 - DEF 99

*Any attack that hits you will kill you.

*But she's far from invincible. Knock her dead, darling!

Frisk was amazed by Chara's incredible stats, but they probably wouldn't have been if it wasn't for the fact that Chara's LV was only one. How could her stats be so high with no LV? But that wasn't something Frisk could dwell on, as their turn was over and Chara attacked again. This time Frisk was forced to jump from platform to platform while the entire floor was covered by hellknives, along with two columns of hellknives that they had to avoid while jumping. They certainly weren't perfect at it, as they died several times just trying to figure out the attack, but they eventually did get past that attack and took their turn. Frisk slashed at Chara with their knife but got another surprise.

Chara dodged the attack.

"What?" Chara asked, faking her confusion. "I may have an enormous amount of HP, but that doesn't mean I should waste it now does it?"

This made Frisk even more frustrated than they already were, to begin. Not only did every one of Chara's attacks have the ability to kill them, now Frisk knew that Chara was going to dodge, which meant they could not deal any damage to her. There was another creepy thing Frisk noticed, too. Every time Chara used her magic, her normally brown eyes would glow a bright red. It was rather menacing.

* * *

Asriel was astonished, and slightly terrified, by the incredible power of his big sister. Every one of her attacks was very clearly thrown with the intent to end the human's life. In fact, despite how much Asriel wished he knew about this power, it made sense why Chara hid it away. But the way Chara was talking unnerved him, as she was saying things like, "That's an interesting expression. That's the expression of someone who's died thrice in a row. You look a little...unsatisfied by that. **Wanna make it a fourth?** " This was disturbing to him, not only because it implied that she had killed the human multiple times, but also because it seemed to suggest that the human was, somehow, coming back to life. Asriel was losing hope due to that thinking. If the human could come back to life every time Chara kills them, could they not be stopped?

 _No_ , Asriel thought to himself. _I can't think like that! I have to believe in Chara. She's the sister of the Absolute God of Hyperdeath! She can't lose!_ Despite this, Asriel still found himself worried about his sister's safety. This was not to say that he didn't believe in his sister, but he knew that since she was dodging the attacks, if she slipped up even a little, it would be all over for her.

* * *

 _Later..._

Frisk, after dying at least 200 times, had finally managed to drain most of Chara's stamina from her dodging their attacks.

"*huff*...*puff*...well, that's enough," Chara said, panting for air. "It's time for my special attack. Hope you're ready. Because here goes nothing."

Frisk braced themself for another death, but it didn't come. They waited for about a minute before looking to Chara in frustration and confusion.

"I know what you're thinking. So, yeah. This is my special attack," Chara said smugly. "I did say 'here goes nothing.' Well, my special attack _is_ nothing. Look, I know you can reset, so there's no way for me to win by killing you. One of your turns you're gonna to get me. So...I decided that it's not going to be your turn, ever. It's just going to keep being my turn until you give up. Understand me?" Frisk tried to attack Chara, but she used her levitation magic to throw them across the room to the entrance of the judgment hall. Chara happily closed her eyes, as she thought of being with her parents again when Frisk reset. But this was a huge mistake, as Frisk, through sheer DETERMINATION managed to break the rules of the FIGHT, and threw their knife at Chara...which drove itself straight into Chara's stomach.

Chara gasped in shock and pain, then she collapsed onto the floor of the judgment hall, and started bleeding out onto the floor.

* * *

"CHARA!" Asriel screamed as he dashed faster than he believed possible toward his sister, his eyes pouring out tears. All of the hopes he had about what Chara said about the human "resetting" and he and Chara finally seeing their mom and dad again, had just been shattered.

"Chara! CHARA! No no no no no no no no no NO! Chara, please don't die! PLEASE!" Asriel screamed at his sister, hoping against all the odds that she had survived. Luckily for him, her HP had only been drained down to about half, although she was still losing HP due to the bleeding.

"Rei...I...I...I'm so...sorry...," Chara sobbed while coughing up blood, and crying, "I'm sorry that...that I couldn't keep...my promise." These words only made Asriel cry more as his sister was blaming herself for getting hit. Then, to make matters worse, Asriel saw the human bearing down on him and Chara. And they were moving way faster than Asriel felt was comfortable. When they reached Asriel and Chara, they ripped the knife out of Chara's chest, causing her to scream out in pain, and pass out. The human then decided that, despite how much they were enjoying Asriel's terror, they were going to end his life. Asriel was even having flashbacks of the most impactful moments of his life as he prepared to die. The human slashed at Asriel...only to have yet another huge shock.

Asriel and Chara had just vanished.

The pool of blood was still there, but the monster and human had just completely disappeared. At first, Frisk thought that Chara might have taken a shortcut, but that couldn't be possible since Chara was either dead or unconscious. Frisk decided to leave that be as, either way, the obstacle in their way was gone, and they could finally finish their quest of genocide.

* * *

Author's Note

This is terrible, yeah I get it. Just don't hate on me, since this is still my first fanfiction EVER. I am having a hard time coming up with stuff.


	3. Reminiscence

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _ **Undertale...**_

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth," spoke the soft voice of someone ahead of Frisk. Frisk was still distrusting because of their encounter with Flowey, but the figure in front of them did not appear threatening. However, Flowey didn't seem threatening at first, either, so Frisk remained on their guard.

The figure appeared to be a female, anthropomorphic goat wearing a purple robe with a strange symbol on it. [Female because of the two... _spherical objects..._ on her upper chest. If you know what I mean ;)] She had dark crimson eyes, and a soft, gentle face and posture.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through this place every day just in case someone has fallen from above. You are the first human to come down here in a long time. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs!" Toriel said gently, her voice almost musical.

Frisk was very unsure about Toriel, as Flowey had acted the same way. He had said he would help, but he just tried to kill them. Nevertheless, Frisk forced themself forward and followed Toriel.

They were happy they did.

* * *

The next day...

Toriel and Frisk were in the living room on the floor, solving a jigsaw puzzle. After they had finished about half of it, Toriel looked at the clock on the wall above the doorway leading to the living room from the entrance of the house. The clock read 4:30 pm.

"Oh! I suppose it is that time of the day again." Toriel said, standing up.

*Frisk asks Toriel what she means by "that time of the day."

"You do remember when we first met, do you not? After I had saved you from that flower, I explained that I pass through the area every day in case someone has fallen from above," Toriel reminded Frisk. "My child, would you please wait here until I return?"

*Frisk nods and continues with the puzzle.

Toriel smiled and walked out of the house towards the first one-way entrance of the underground. When she was far enough away that she knew Frisk couldn't hear her, she cried softly as she walked. Though Frisk tried to hide it, Toriel could tell that they wanted to go back to the surface, just like every other human that she had ever temporarily cared for in her little home. She knew she couldn't just allow this human to leave. She had to make Frisk prove that they were able to survive in the underground. But for now, all was well, as Frisk did not seem to want to leave the Ruins...not yet anyway. Regardless, Toriel wiped her eyes and continued onward towards the flowerbed. Passing by the puzzles she and the human had solved together, she entered the dark room where she had saved Frisk from Flowey and started having a moment of nostalgia...and thought back to when she had helped the previous human that had fallen.

* * *

 _ **15 years ago...**_

"Tell me, my child, what is your name?" Toriel asked the 11-year-old human girl. Toriel had just saved her from Flowey and was walking with her, up the stairs to the first room in the Ruins.

"Oh, um, m-my name is E-Erika." The human said timidly. Toriel smiled down at her, understanding her nervousness, and trying her best to calm the human down.

"It is alright, child. I am not going to harm you." Toriel spoke softly, attempting to make Erika feel safe. It did make sense as to why she was so scared. The very first monster that she had met _was_ Flowey, after all, and he had lied that he was going to help Erika and tried to kill her. If it weren't for Toriel, Erika probably would have been killed, the first human to die in the Ruins. Toriel could not allow a human to die in the only safe area in the Underground.

"I know, but...what about that flower? I mean, he could pop up out of nowhere..." Erika said, looking around nervously.

"You do not need to worry about him. If he ever tries to hurt you again, I will make him regret it. Hopefully, it will not come to that, though." Toriel reassured Erika. Knowing that she wouldn't have to worry so much about Flowey so much filled her with PERSEVERANCE.

* * *

 _At Toriel's house..._

"Awake already, little one? I hope you slept well." Toriel asked Erika. The two had arrived at Toriel's house only an hour or two ago after Toriel had brought her through the Ruins' more challenging puzzles until they arrived at her home. Erika had just woken up from her nap, and was munching on the butterscotch-cinnamon pie Toriel had left for her.

"Yeah... I slept pretty well." Erika said quietly, sounding hurt.

Toriel noticed how somber the little girl was behaving, so she tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Oh, well it is good to hear that you slept well. Um, I want you to know how happy I am to have someone living here. There are so many old books I wish to share with you. I want you to see my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education." Erika looked surprised that Toriel had so many things planned out for her, but the shocked expression only lasted for a few moments before fading back to the previous hurting expression.

"My child, what is the matter?" Toriel finally asked as Erika didn't seem to be paying full attention.

"Miss Toriel... you've been so kind to me... and I'm really thankful that you saved me from Flowey... but," Erika started to tear up while she was talking, "I... need to... to go home."

Toriel really couldn't say that she was surprised by Erika's statement, even though it _did_ catch her off guard. Her own eyes began to tear up as well, but she still pushed herself forward and told Erika to follow her. Toriel took Erika by the hand and led her down the stairs to the end of the long hallway, ending with a large door.

"This is the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I sincerely hoped you did not want to leave...but, I understand that you want to go home. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. Since you truly desire to leave the Ruins...I will not stop you." Erika started to outright cry at her words; she felt so horrible for telling Toriel that she had to leave.

"I'll miss you..."

Those were the last words Toriel heard from Erika, as they had one final embrace. Then, the girl left the Ruins, exiting the giant doors.

* * *

 _2 days later..._

Toriel was sitting, leaning against the exit of the Ruins. It had been two days since Erika had left, and she had been coming back to the door because she had secretly hoped that Erika would come back, although her hopes hadn't been high. It had been two days after all.

Then someone knocked on the door.

" **knock, knock.** " said a deep voice.

"Who is there?" Toriel responded automatically, not knowing what else to do. She heard a gasp from the person on the other side. Apparently, they didn't expect someone to answer.

" **dishes.** " spoke the voice again.

"Dishes who?"

" **dishes a very bad joke.** "

Toriel burst out laughing. Though she didn't hear the person on the other side say anything, she could somehow tell that they were surprised she was laughing.

" **you sure seemed to enjoy that one, huh?** "

"I am sorry, it has been a few days since I have talked to anyone with a sense of humor!"

" **alright then, here's another one: did you hear the story about the unsharpened pencil?** "

"I have not. Could you tell me about it?"

" **nah, I really shouldn't. it's** _ **pointless**_."

Toriel howled with laughter. It was one of the funniest things she had ever heard in a long time.

* * *

 _Later..._

"OK, now it is my turn! Knock knock!"

" **who's there?** "

"Old lady!"

" **old lady who?** "

"Oh! I did not know you could yodel!"

The voice from beyond the door rocked with a deep, almost cackling, but still gleeful laugh. Though, as much as Toriel didn't want to disturb the cheerful mood her new friend had set, she had to ask about the whereabouts of Erika.

"By the way...I have been meaning to ask you something if you do not mind."

" **sure, what's on your mind, lady?** "

"I need to ask...about the human that passed through recently . . ."

The voice was silent for a few moments.

" **...so you knew about the human, huh?** "

"Yes, I did, and I need to know...is she alright? Did she leave the Underground safely?"

" **...** **there's no easy way to say this but...no, the human's soul was taken by the captain of the royal guard, undyne."**

Her new friend's words hit Toriel like a knife driven into her very SOUL. At this revelation, she couldn't help but cry softly. Although Toriel didn't know of her life on the surface, Erika hadn't done anything wrong. She did nothing to deserve death. She was a sweet little girl, and never tried to hurt anyone. Also, hearing that Asgore hadn't killed Erika, only made Toriel loathe him even more since it further proved that he was too weak to gather the human souls himself. Those words also made Toriel realize that she has had enough. She was not going to allow another human just to leave. If another human wanted to leave, she would not allow it, for the human's safety.

* * *

 _Present day..._

"Help! Someone please, HELP!" Toriel was instantly snapped back to reality when she heard a voice calling from the room with the flowerbed. In most other circumstances, it would have taken a moment or two for her to notice, but it was a voice that she instantly recognized. A voice that caused a few teardrops to fall down her face, as she thought she was just reminiscing about the good old days.

It was the voice of her deceased son.

The voice that caused a few teardrops to fall down her face, as she thought she was just reminiscing about the good old days when she didn't resent Asgore for his ruthless re-declaration of war on humanity. But she had a new human guest, so she wiped away her tears, put on a gentle expression, and entered the flowerbed room. But when she saw who was on the flowerbed, her eyes began leaking tears once again.

"A-Asriel?! C-C-Chara?!"

To be continued...

* * *

Author's Note

I've gotta say, this is not one of my better chapters. Sorry about that. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy, this is EndertheDark, signing off until next time.


	4. Reunited

\- **PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING!** -

Sans: **alright, i need to tell ya something the author changed up here so ya don't get confused readin' this chapter. they switched up the layout of tori's house. the bookshelf and gardening tool rack with gardening tools are now against the wall near the doorway leading into the kitchen. the reason the author moved them is that there's now a couch, the same color as tori's recliner, to the right of the fireplace where the bookshelf and gardening tool rack were. just felt ya needed to know before ya started.**

Author: Thanks, Sans. Now, let me tell you of the ages of the some of the characters. (Those that I think are important. I am NOT a pedophile. Also, I will NOT, I repeat _**NOT**_ ship any of the characters in this story, other than those that are canon.)

Asriel: 10

Frisk: 11

Chara: 16

With that said, hope you enjoy!

Whoopsies! Almost forgot this!

 **For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

Asriel stared in terror at the human towering above him, his big sister's scream of agony still repeating itself in his mind. Hot tears continued to stream down his face, making darkened streaks in his otherwise white fur. He had the happiest moments of his life flash before his eyes, such as, when Chara was accepted into his family, when he got his rainbow scarf on his sixth birthday, which was hand knit by Chara, and when his Mom had allowed him and Chara to live in Snowdin Town as sentries. Asriel wanted to run, but his legs decided that there was no escaping the human because of the dang barrier. So, he hugged his sister tightly, closed his eyes, and accepted his fate. Asriel heard the sound of the human's knife slashing at him, causing him to tense up preparing himself for the pain of his magical body being rended into pieces, which is why he was confused when he waited at least 10 seconds and felt nothing slicing through him. Asriel cracked open one of his eyes slightly to try and see why the human was hesitating to kill him and Chara. His eyes shot wide open when he saw that they were not even in the judgment hall anymore. Instead, Asriel and Chara had somehow been teleported to a room with a hole in the ceiling that let sunlight shine down on a bed of golden flowers, which he and Chara were currently on top of, including a long, narrow hallway that led into another room. Asriel then suddenly remembered that his sister was lying unconscious next to him, and began to panic, taking the only option he felt he should.

*Asriel called for help.

"Help! Someone please, HELP!" Asriel cried out into the seemingly empty hallway. However, he quickly decided that calling for help and waiting for someone was not a very good idea, as his sister was bleeding heavily right next to him, and could die before anyone could reach them. Luckily for Asriel, before he could even turn back towards the hallway and try to find someone to help Chara, he heard a voice that, not too long ago, he was entirely certain he would never hear again.

It was the voice of his mother.

"A-Asriel?! C-C-Chara?!" spoke Toriel's breaking voice from behind Asriel and Chara. Asriel whirled around and, once again, began to cry as he looked at his mother standing only a few feet away. Toriel was having a very similar reaction, her hands covering her mouth, eyes open wide, and crying profusely. Asriel wanted so badly to dash forward and leap into his mother's arms...

But then he remembered his sister's condition.

It took all of Asriel's willpower to resist running towards Toriel. "Mom! You have to help Chara! PLEASE!" Asriel cried. Toriel was caught off guard by the terror and desperation in her son's voice...that is, until she rushed over to Chara to inspect her. What Toriel saw, unsurprisingly, was almost enough to make her panic. Chara had a massive gash in her stomach. The amount of blood loss was so enormous that Chara was already starting to become pale.

"...D-Do not worry, my child. I will heal her." Toriel said as she tried to prevent herself from panicking, and used her magic to try and treat Chara. Unfortunately, though Toriel was able to restore Chara's HP back to full, she could not stop the bleeding. So Chara's HP was still dropping, at a rate of 1 HP about every 20 - 25 seconds. Unable to repair the remaining damage, Toriel picked up Chara, carrying her bridal-style, and rushed along the path to her home.

"Hurry now, my child," Toriel told Asriel. With that, Toriel and her miraculously resurrected son rushed to her house.

* * *

 _A few minutes later . . ._

Frisk had finished the puzzle, and was in Toriel's guest bedroom, having almost read through the entirety of one of the monster history books in Toriel's bookshelf. It made them feel bad for monsterkind and showed them an obvious dark side to humanity. They were beginning to wonder where Toriel was since it had been over an hour since she left to check if anyone had fallen. Their question was quickly answered when they hear two sets of footsteps quickly rushing into the living room. Frisk exited the bedroom and peered into the living room around the corner of the doorway.

Toriel hurried as she lay Chara on the couch, retrieved her first aid kit, and began trying to stop Chara from bleeding, with Asriel pacing anxiously behind her. She was carefully wrapping bandages around her wound, but they weren't just any bandages. Toriel had infused these particular bandages with her medicinal magic, which would slowly restore HP, which could rapidly speed up recovery. Unfortunately, because Chara was bleeding heavily, it wouldn't restore until she stopped. Luckily, after wrapping several bandages around Chara's chest, Toriel was finally able to halt the bleeding, and Chara's HP started to slowly restore, allowing Toriel and Asriel to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, this had me so worried. Thank goodness." Toriel said, finally letting the tension ease. However, as it did so, the reality of who was in the room with her finally made itself re-known.

Toriel had not only believed that both of her children were dead, but she had also _watched_ both of them die. She had been beside Chara's bed when it became her deathbed, and she had been holding what was left of Asriel when he had turned to dust. But both Asriel and Chara were right there. The reason she hadn't been crying already is because of the adrenaline due to Chara's injuries. But now...

"A-Asriel, I-I-" Toriel was very quickly cut off from her statement since Asriel leaped into his mother's arms while crying his eyes out. After a moment of registering what happened, Toriel followed suit. Toriel held her son in her arms and did not want to let him go. She was fighting her tears, trying not to make her son scared. But what he said next was too much.

"Mama, I thought I...I thought I wasn't ever going to see you again." Asriel sobbed. And that did it. Toriel couldn't hold back any longer and let herself cry. The two shared the love between mother and son for several minutes before they finally were able to stop.

"Welcome home, my child..." Toriel said as she finally found the end of her tears.

* * *

 _Later that evening..._

After Asriel and Frisk had finished their slices of butterscotch cinnamon pie, the clock read 9:30. Toriel decided that it was then time for bed. Chara hadn't woken up in the several hours that had passed since Toriel found her and Asriel. However, there were some things Toriel found...odd. Chara was dressed strangely, wearing a thick green jacket, a white T-shirt underneath, and black pants. Chara had never, ever dressed like that. Another thing Toriel noted was how much taller Chara was, and how her body was displaying more...feminine features...around her upper chest. Then there was Asriel. Although he still appeared the same age as when he died, he was also dressed strangely. He was wearing a dark blue winter coat, dark blue pants, and a rainbow scarf. It was off, although he did look adorable. It was also strange how terrified Asriel was of Frisk. He refused to sit near them at dinner time and insisted on sleeping with his mother. Seeing no convincing him otherwise, Toriel relented, allowing her son to sleep with her. She draped a thick blanket over Chara and removed the thick sweater, hanging it on the tool rack, to make sure she didn't overheat.

"Sweet dreams, my child," Toriel whispered, leaning in and kissing her daughter on the forehead. Then she entered her room and lay down on her bed, tucking her son in next to her, and closing her eyes.

Frisk was lying awake, staring at the ceiling. Last night, sleep had come very quickly for them, but now they just couldn't get that question out of their mind. Why was Asriel so terrified of them? They hadn't even met each other before! Perhaps they reminded him of someone he had already met. But that was just silly...right? Although Frisk did need to go home, they prioritized becoming friends with Asriel.

*With thoughts of how to become friends with Asriel, Frisk is filled with DETERMINATION . . . and sleepiness.

* * *

Chara wasn't quite sure where she was. From what she could see, she was standing on an invisible floor in the middle of an entirely black void, while her own body emitted a faint white glow against it.

 _Wow. So this is Hell? I was kinda expecting more demonic figures, giant lava oceans, and just...everything on fire._ Chara thought. Seeing nothing around her, she decided to start walking forward, hoping that if she just kept going, she might find something, or at the very least run into a wall. After walking for at least 15 minutes and finding nothing at all, Chara stopped. She heard a weird sound from very far behind her, so she could barely make it out. However, from what she could hear, it sounded like...someone was dragging something sharp against a hard surface.

 _Okay...that's not creepy at all._ Chara thought, pressing onward. After walking, for another few minutes, she heard the sound again. This time, however, she could very clearly make it out. It was a loud scraping sound. That let Chara to a very startling realization.

There was someone following her, someone who very clearly wanted to attack her.

How did she conclude that someone wanted to attack her? Simple. She recognized the sound. It was the sound of something sharp dragging along something hard. Something sharp as in a _weapon_. Chara stopped walking and pulled out her enchanted knife. She held it out to her left side, and appeared to be inspecting it, but was actually looking in the blade's reflection to see what was behind her. What she saw made her heart skip several beats.

It was that human, with their damned knife and wearing the purple-striped, blue shirt that Chara hated so much. Their face had the much expected psychotic grin and eyes with pupils that were so dilated that Chara didn't even notice they were even there at first. Frisk stopped directly behind Chara, merely inches away from her.

*Frisk whispers to Chara that they wish Asriel had been as hard to kill as her.

Chara's eyes widened, as an indescribable feeling filled her. Alarm, fright, horror, terror. None of these words were quite enough to describe what Chara's expression showed. But as suddenly as it had come, the expression left to be replaced with one of animosity, with Chara's eyes glowing a familiar red. Chara had whirled around and slashed her knife at the human. But Frisk had anticipated that, and jumped backward, evading the attack. This fight, compared to the previous one, was far easier for Frisk to survive in. The reason being that Chara was blinded by rage, not allowing herself to think clearly. She was just throwing everything she had at Frisk. It didn't work. After several minutes of successful dodging, Frisk gained the upper hand, cutting the back of Chara's legs with their knife. Frisk slashed towards Chara's neck...

Chara's eyes flew open, glowing red against the darkness of the room before reverting to her usual brown, as she choked back a scream. She pressed her hand firmly against her chest as if trying to will her hyperventilation to slow into normal breathing, and trying to force her heart to stop trying to burst out. After finally succeeding in these two ventures, Chara sat up and scanned her surroundings. It was a little dark, so it difficult to make out details, but she could see the outlines of a table surrounded by three chairs, a fireplace next to the couch she was sitting on, and against the wall she was facing when sitting up, there was a large bookshelf and next to it was some kind of tool rack. Then Chara noticed just how wet her face was. She had been crying. Having no idea where she was, she decided to take a look around. But as Chara stood up, a wave of dizziness passed over her, so she had to walk very slowly, having even to use the wall to support herself. Going down the somewhat dark hallway, she opened the first door. She didn't see anyone inside, so she closed the door and continued down the hall to the second door. Opening it, she saw, two people asleep in the queen-sized bed. Against her better judgment, Chara entered the bedroom to determine who they were. Fresh tears sprung from her eyes when she saw who was there. She was looking at, not only her little brother asleep in the bed, but also her mother! She wanted to hug the life out of them right then and there but didn't want to wake them. So, she quietly left the room and lay back down on the couch.

*With the knowledge that her family is alive and well, Chara is filled with DETERMINATION.

* * *

 _The next morning…_

Things were picking up quickly. When Toriel found her daughter awake, she started by hugging the life out of her. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, things dropped fast for Chara when Toriel introduced her to Frisk. Chara wasn't too happy that the person who killed everyone she loved was being taken in by Toriel.

"...Mom? This human and I need to talk. Alone." Chara said though it wasn't precisely a request.

"Umm…alright…" Toriel agreed albeit, reluctantly. Frisk was a little hesitant as Chara led them into their room, but entered anyway.

"Alright, kid. Listen up," Chara said coldly, closing the door behind her. "I don't know how you managed to hide it, but you're not fooling me. I know what you really are. Keep up the whole 'I'm such a good person, I'd never hurt a fly' act all you want. The second that you try to hurt someone… **I will make your life hell. Is that clear?** " Chara ended her monologue with her eyes turning to black pits, terrifying Frisk. They nodded frantically.

"Good…" Chara stated flatly, leading Frisk back into the living room.

Later that morning, the four were munching on pancakes that Toriel had made for breakfast. It was pleasing to her that Asriel had apparently worked up the courage to talk to Frisk. However, it was troubling that Frisk wouldn't talk to Chara, or even make eye contact.

"Mom? I need to ask you something." Asriel said.

"Yes, my child? Please, tell me." Toriel responded. However, what Asriel had asked was something that Toriel had not been prepared for. So unprepared, in fact, it felt like her heart had stopped beating.

"Where's dad?"

* * *

Author's Note

...What? I don't really have much to say about this chapter other than that I hope you liked it…well, bye!


	5. From Calm to Heartache

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

Toriel completely froze when she heard Asriel's question. Ever since she found her children alive, many of her memories from when she didn't loathe Asgore for his decision to kill all humans who entered the underground resurfaced, causing her quite a bit of emotional pain. But that was nothing compared to now. It seemed that every single one of her worries regarding Asgore, Chara, and Asriel had just come crashing onto her.

"Where's Dad?"

She felt that she was going insane with that phrase looping in her mind, especially since the phrase was being spoken by the heart melting, adorably innocent voice of her son.

"Mom…"

"Mom…"

"Mom…"

"MOM!"

Toriel was ripped back to the real world when her subconscious finally allowed Chara's voice to register itself in her mind. Chara was kneeling over Toriel, which made her realize that she had collapsed. Asriel and Frisk were standing slightly behind Chara, both with terrified looks on each of their faces.

"Mommy, are you okay?!" Asriel cried, sounding very concerned.

"What happened…?" Toriel asked as Chara helped walk her over to sit in her recliner.

"Well, when Asriel asked you-," Chara stopped herself. She figured that it most likely would not help Toriel if what Asriel had asked was brought back up, "when Asriel asked about… you know what… you started hyperventilating. Then you just collapsed and, well, zoned out." Chara explained. Toriel was rather ashamed of herself for essentially going into shock right in front of her precious children.

"Oh, goodness… I'm so sorry." Toriel said. That was the response Chara was expecting, as her mother had always been gentle towards herself and Asriel, yet somehow it caught her off-guard. Toriel was rather surprised when Chara started giggling.

"Heh heh heh heh heh… Why are you apologizing for passing out?" Chara asked, laughing.

"I'm just sorry that I frightened you…" Toriel responded in a sorrowful tone. Chara felt bad, but she was, of course, really curious as to why Toriel reacted in such an extreme manner to such an innocent question.

"Don't worry, Mommie," Asriel proclaimed loudly, startling Chara and the others by his sudden shift(lol) to such a bubbly and cheerful state. "I'm Asriel Dreemurr, the absolute GOD of Hyperdeath. I never get scared!" Asriel finished his speech by striking his "godly stance" as he called it. Toriel couldn't help but giggle at his antics, but she placed a hand over her mouth as to not make Asriel think she was laughing at him.

Chara turned towards Asriel and giggled while she said, "You 'never get scared,' huh? That is so adorable."

"NOOO! CHARA, I'M NOOOT!" Asriel squealed, stomping the ground while blushing furiously.

"Yes, you are! You're my cute little brother, Rei." Chara retorted, which served to make Asriel blush harder and made him even more flustered and agitated.

"RRRGH! HUMAN," Asriel yelled at Frisk, surprising them. "I need an unbiased opinion! Who is the cool one: Asriel; the absolute GOD of Hyperdeath! or Chara?"

*Frisk puts their hand to their chin in thought for a moment… and says that Chara is the cool one.

Asriel had become seriously embarrassed to the point where he had tried to hide his completely red face, since not only did his sister say that he was 'cute,' but now, someone who he BARELY knew said he looked cute. But the moment passed and everyone, except Asriel, shared a little laugh. Then Chara had an idea. An awful idea. Chara had a wonderful, awful idea.

"Hey, Mom. You like puns, right?" Chara asked. Asriel's face went from bright red to pale so fast that it looked like the blush had just disappeared.

"Oh, yes! I very much enjoy them! Would you like to hear one?" Toriel asked.

"Sure, I'd love to hear one of them," Chara answered.

"Please no..." Asriel whispered.

"What does a skeleton tile his roof with? SHINgles!" Toriel laughed, Chara snickering right along with her.

"NOOOOO!" Asriel cried. But they weren't done. It was Chara's turn.

"Okay, my turn. Did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda? He was lucky it was a soft drink." Chara said sniggering. Toriel howled with laughter, Chara was genuinely pleased that Toriel enjoyed her puns. Asriel, on the other hand, well...

"CHARAAAAAA!" Asriel yelled. Once again, everyone other than Asriel shared a great laugh.

* * *

A little later, Toriel was reading her favorite book to Asriel and Frisk. Chara was enjoying the cheerful atmosphere, but something kept nagging at the back of her mind. It possibly had something to do with the expression Frisk had on their face. It was… weird. The human had what appeared to be a mix of sadness and regret. It was rather confusing, but Chara was not prepared for what was next.

When Toriel was in the process of turning the to the next page, Frisk mumbled something that nobody in the room could quite understand, but it was still audible. "Hmm? Could you please speak up, my child?"

*With a heavy heart, Frisk asks Toriel how to exit the Ruins.

Several things happened at once. Toriel's eyes widened, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks, and she started sweating profusely. Chara, on the other hand, started glaring at Frisk while her eyes started glowing red, though it was faint, and she clenched her hands into fists, but nobody noticed since she had her hands in her pants pockets.

"W-W-What do mean, my child? This IS y-your home n-now," Toriel stammered obviously terrified, though, Chara and Asriel didn't quite understand why. "U-Umm… h-how about another e-exciting s-snail fact. Did you know that snails… Talk. Really. Slowly? I-Interesting, is it not?"

*Frisk asks how to leave the Ruins, with tears streaming from their eyes.

Toriel herself started to lose composure as well, but she steeled herself and said, "...I have to do something. All of you, please stay here." Toriel commanded softly. She swiftly left the room and headed down the stairs to her basement. Frisk didn't listen to Toriel's instructions and decided to follow her down the stairs.

Chara glared harder at Frisk's back, and her eyes glowed slightly brighter. "That kid is such a little brat. Toriel just told them to stay here and what do they do? They follow her! Unbelievable, right Rei?... Rei?!... Of course, you decide to follow them." Chara spoke frustrated. Seeing no other approach, Chara put on her green sweater, making sure her signature weapon was in her left jacket pocket, and was about to proceed, but noticed something was in her right jacket pocket, and quickly remembered what it was. It was her most cherished item, something she wouldn't trade for almost anything.

The silver heart locket that Asriel had given her, and engraved on it were the words: "Family Is Forever." This was the same as Asriel's heart locket. Chara put her locket around her neck, and hurried down the stairs, to see what was going to happen.

"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not?" Toriel said, but she said it in a way that made Asriel scared, and made Chara feel uncomfortable. She spoke sounding broken, hurt, unable to cope with the fact that Frisk wanted to leave.

"Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground." Frisk's guilt was increasing with every word Toriel spoke. But they, Chara, and Asriel were caught off guard by her next declaration.

"I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now, be a good child and go upstairs." After Toriel had finished her statement, she continued further down the purple hallway. Frisk still didn't listen to his caretaker's request and continued onward, not too far behind her. Chara moved forward since she didn't want to risk Frisk(kill me...)killing her mother. Asriel stayed close to his big sister, since the way his mother was behaving was making him very scared, though he tried to hide it.

"Every human who falls down here meets the same fate," Toriel continued, "I have seen it over and over again. They come. They leave. They die." Chara and Asriel already knew of how most humans were treated, but what Toriel said next made Asriel start to cry in horror, and caused Chara to feel like she was experiencing cardiac arrest.

"You naive child… If you leave the Ruins… They… **Asgore** … Will kill you. I am only trying to protect you, do you not understand? … Go to your room." Toriel continued again after she finished, and Frisk was about to move on too, but they noticed that Chara and Asriel hadn't moved.

Toriel didn't know that Asriel and Chara happened to be there with Frisk.

Chara couldn't believe what she had just heard. It already made no sense to her as to why Toriel was in the Ruins, but Asgore killing humans? ASGORE?! The boss monster that was considered by pretty much the whole Underground to be a "big, fluffy pushover"? Saying that Asgore would deliberately kill someone was crossing the line of strange and entering the realm of completely illogical. Chara shook her head rapidly and steeled herself. She needed more information if she was going to make sense of any of this. "Come on, Asriel. We need to keep going." Asriel nodded shakily, and the three continued.

"Do not try to stop me, child. This is the last warning I will give you." Toriel said sternly, causing Frisk to flinch at her tone. Toriel moved the rest of the way down the hall to the giant doors. Frisk was dreading what might come next but continued anyway. Asriel was about to go with them, but Chara held out her arm and stopped him.

"Don't go down there Asriel. I think something bad might happen." Chara said, eyeing the human at the end of the hall suspiciously. Asriel was going to argue, but he trusted that Chara knew what she was doing so he stayed with Chara peeking around the corner of the hall.

"You really want to leave so badly?" Toriel huffed angrily. "Hmph. You really are no different than the other humans who had fallen. Then there is only one solution to this… " It hurt Frisk to hear those words, but they needed to go home. But Toriel's decision on how to deal with that was so extreme and sudden; it caused Frisk to begin panicking.

"Prove yourself," Toriel said as turned, tears trickling from her eyes, "Prove to me you are strong enough to survive!" Toriel declared, sending her magic attacks at Frisk. Frisk gasped in fear and dove out of the way of the attacks.

*Frisk pleads with Toriel and tells her that they don't want to fight. But Toriel stands firm.

Toriel swipes her hands, and sends more flame attacks at Frisk, over and over. Frisk attempted to dodge them, but a few of the attacks impacted them, causing them to cry out in pain. The pain made Toriel visibly tense up and she started shaking, but she steeled herself. Frisk was trying to push themself up and was racking their brain trying to figure out how to get past Toriel without harming her. Then they remembered the advice one of the Froggits had given them.

* * *

 _Flashback!_

"Ribbit, Ribbit," the Froggit croaked.

(I have heard you are quite merciful, for a human… Surely you know by now that monsters can be spared if you ACT a certain way. Do you think that this is helpful?)

*Frisk nods happily.

(It is rather helpful. But remember, SPAREing is just saying that you won't fight. At some point, you may have to do it even if you don't ACT first.) Frisk wasn't sure of what to make of the last point but kept it in mind wondering if it would become useful.

* * *

 _BACK TO THE PRESENT!_

Frisk remembered the Froggit's advice and refused to fight Toriel. That caught her off guard, but she attacked again anyway. And Frisk, once again, refused to fight, making Toriel's resolve start to waiver.

"What are you doing?" Toriel asked, her voice shaky. She attacked again, but it was a little less accurate than before. That told Frisk that it was working. Frisk continued to refuse to fight, chipping away at Toriel's resolve to fight.

"Attack or run away!" Toriel cried, trying her best to keep her willpower from crumbling. She sent many more fire attacks at Frisk, and several of them hit their target, reducing Frisk's HP down to 1/20. Despite the incredible pain, Frisk managed to stand back up, still SPAREing Toriel.

"What are you proving in this way? Fight me or leave!" Toriel launched more attacks at Frisk, and they seized up, preparing themself for death… but Toriel's fire attacks were directed away from them. Frisk looked towards Toriel, and she was crying a little harder while trying to look away from Frisk.

"I know you want to go home but… But please, go upstairs," Toriel said, her voice breaking, "I promise I will take good care of you here. I know we do not have much but… we can live a good life here." Frisk still insisted that they had to go home. "Why are you making this so difficult…? PLEASE. Go upstairs…" Frisk couldn't take it anymore. They ran up to Toriel and jumped up to hug her. With that, Toriel cracked and collapsed to her knees.

"Ha… ha… pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child-," Toriel cut herself off when she saw Chara and Asriel standing not too far away from her and Frisk. Her eyes widened in fear. "O-Oh dear… my children… h-how much did you hear?!" Toriel squeaked, trembling.

"Oh, only all of it. But the thing that really stuck out to us was the thing you said about Dad…" Chara said blankly. "Azzy and I would reeeally like to talk to him." Toriel didn't want Chara to leave, afraid that she might get killed… but it was evident she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Toriel checked Chara's stats just to be safe and was surprised that her ATK and DEF were so high while still lacking LOVE.

"Very well. I understand why you want to leave. Especially you, my child," Toriel said, turning back to Frisk, "You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this." The more Toriel spoke, the more Frisk felt like they were experiencing heartburn.

"My expectations… My loneliness… My fear… For you, my child… I will put them aside. Since you truly desire to leave the Ruins… I will not stop you. However, when you leave… please do not come back… I hope you can understand." Toriel and Frisk shared one final embrace before she stood up and moved out of the way.

"Goodbye, my child. I will see you soon my children." Toriel finished, addressing Chara and Asriel after Frisk. Asriel and Frisk went first. "Wait, Chara," Toriel stopped her, "I hate to burden you, but… please… do not allow my child or my baby to be hurt… can you promise me that, my daughter?" Chara was surprised that she even had to ask, but saying that she would protect Frisk gave the excuse she needed to watch them like a hawk.

"Come on, Mom. You know you don't even need to ask for that." Chara said, smiling. Toriel smiled back, they hugged, and Chara jogged through the door so she could catch up to Frisk and Asriel. Luckily for her, they waited at the end of the hallway at the second door.

"There you are, Chara! What were you doing back there?" Asriel asked.

"Nothing really significant. Just promising Mom that I'd protect you." Chara replied casually.

"Aww, thanks, big sister! But you don't need to worry about me! Asriel, the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath, doesn't need protection!" Asriel declared, making Frisk giggle.

"Cool. Welp, time to go." With that, Chara pushed open the second set of doors, and they entered a pitch black room with a single shaft of light shining on a golden flower in the middle… and it smiled smugly as it saw Frisk…?

"Clever. Veeeeeery clever. So you were able to play by your own rule-" Flowey cut himself when he saw who was with Frisk. Chara and ASRIEL?! But he used to _be_ Asriel! And he was Asriel when he watched Chara die! She was DEAD! Flowey was so overcome by shock that he couldn't even finish his monologue and quickly burrowed under the earth.

"...'kay then… How about we move on, kiddos…?" Chara said, extremely confused. Asriel nodded, looking completely bewildered, though Frisk looked terrified of the flower. With that, the trio moved through the doorway, with Frisk wondering what the Underground would have in store for them.

* * *

Author's Note

I don't really have anything to say about this chapter, but I need to tell you something. From August 8-18 (not counting the weekends) I will be at marching band camp for my school, and right after that school will start for me. So I won't have as much time to work on the story. Sorry about that. Either way, hope you enjoyed this chapter, 'til next time.


	6. Spooky Scary Skelebros

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _Snowdin…_

Chara, Asriel, and Frisk all stepped out of the Ruins into a rather cold chill, though Chara and Asriel did not find it unbearable since they were used to Snowdin. Frisk was personally amazed by the area, especially because it was somehow snowing underground. It was a rather pleasant experience for Chara and Asriel especially. Seeing the calm flurry of snow falling from the dark ceiling of the cavern system, hearing the sound of snow crunching under their feet, and feeling the snowflakes landing on their faces. It was wonderful.

So, of course, it was interrupted.

"WAAAGH!" Chara cried out, landing face first in the snow after tripping over a giant branch.

"Chara! Are you okay?!" Asriel cried, rushing over to his sister.

"Yeah… I'm alright." Chara responded, as she pushed herself up, and started brushing the snow off of her. "It _snow_ problem."

"CHARAAA!" Asriel shouted as Chara and Frisk giggled. But before Frisk moved on with Chara and Asriel, they stopped to examine the branch.

*It's a tough looking branch. It's too heavy to pick up.

"Hey," Chara called to Frisk, making them turn towards her, "I'm gonna keep an eye on you. Hurry up." Frisk raced forward, and they all continued, but before the three could get far, there was a loud snap behind them, and they whirled around… only to see the thick branch behind was now broken.

"I-It's been snapped…l-like it was nothing…!" Asriel squeaked.

"How about we move a little faster…?" Chara said cautiously. So they all moved on, walking a little faster. After about a quarter of a minute, they heard another noise, just as unsettling as the branch snapping. They heard footsteps behind them. Chara whirled around while whipping out her knife, pointing it in the direction of the sound, and her eyes glowed bright red.

But nobody was there.

"...Run." Chara said directly. With that, they ran towards the bridge in the distance, but Chara stuck her arms out, stopping them all before they could cross.

"Something's not right here…" Chara said, facing where they came for a few seconds, then turning back to face down the bridge.

"What do you mean, Chara?" Asriel asked.

"This bridge. It seems pretty rickety. You go ahead of me," Chara instructed Asriel, "You go last." Chara finished, ordering Frisk to go last.

After Asriel and Chara had crossed the bridge, Frisk was ready to move across, but before they could, heavy footsteps in the snow coming from behind made them freeze in place.

"HUMA-" Asriel was about to squeal, but Chara slammed her hand over his mouth in order to make him quiet. Fortunately, the short, yet still menacing shadow figure didn't seem to notice. It walked slowly and deliberately towards Frisk. It stopped just a few centimeters behind them. Then it finally spoke.

" **Human.** " the figure said, in a deep voice.

" **Don't you know how to greet a new pal?** "

" **Turn around and shake my hand.** " Frisk was almost on the verge of freaking out, but they managed to work up their courage and slowly turned around to face the shadow. The dark outline stuck out a hand, and Frisk slowly grabbed it, expecting to die.

Death was not even close to what happened.

There was the sound of what seemed like someone farting, but it was coming from the figure's hand. The figure was no longer covered by shadow and was visible. The monster was what appeared to be a skeleton, no taller than Frisk, wearing a thick blue jacket, a light gray shirt underneath, black shorts, and blue slippers. When he spoke again, all of the malice had left his voice, removing the previous tension.

" **heheh… the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick,** " The trio all laughed at this. Asriel even laughed a little, though it was mostly with relief.

" **yeah, it's always funny, isn't it?** " the skeleton chuckled, before addressing one of the more notable facts.

" **hang on a sec… you and one of your pals back there, you two are humans, right?** " Frisk and Chara nodded, causing the skeleton to chuckle a little, confusing Frisk, Asriel, and Chara.

" **that's hilarious,** " he said, " **i'm sans. sans the skeleton. and i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, but… well… i can't say that i care about capturing anybody.** " Sans' words help reassure Frisk that he wouldn't try to hurt them. But the fear returned rather quickly with his next statement.

" **now my brother, papyrus… he's a human hunting FANATIC. actually, i think that's him over there,** " Sans pointed behind the trio, and they whirled around to face the direction he pointed, " **i have an idea, kid,** " Sans said to Frisk, " **go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.** "

Sans stepped through, over the bridge with Frisk, and the others followed suit.

" **quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp,** " Sans suggested, gesturing for Frisk to do as he said. Frisk hid behind the "conveniently-shaped" lamp which, amazingly, was shaped exactly the same as them, and perfectly hid their entire body.

"That's all well and good, but what do I do?!" Chara shouted, looking frantically for someplace to hide.

" **i dunno. maybe try hiding behind my sentry station.** " Sans said casually as if this was a regular occurrence. Chara decided to take his advice, and dove behind said station, so that she was out of sight.

" **don't worry, kiddo. my bro isn't gonna hurt ya. you're a monster, after all.** " Asriel was surprised that Sans had anticipated what he was going to ask, but he was happy that this "Papyrus" character was not a bad person.

Another skeleton, much taller and lankier than Sans, strolled in. He looked like he was unhappy about something.

" **'sup, bro?** " Sans said, sounding almost bored.

" _YOU KNOW WHAT IS 'SUP,' BROTHER,_ " Papyrus exclaimed, his voice loud and strangely high-pitched, " _IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!_ " Papyrus was so frustrated with Sans that he failed to notice Asriel standing right next to him.

" **oh, just staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?** " Frisk tensed up, worried that Papyrus was going to see them. But it was not to be.

" _NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!?_ " Chara struggled to not laugh at the irony, " _I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!_ " Papyrus struck a pose very similar to Asriel's own.

" _THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!_

 _RESPECT…_

 _RECOGNITION…_

 _I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK TO, BE MY, 'FRIEND'? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING!_ "

 _OMG! Papyrus is SO COOL!,_ Asriel fanboyed in his mind, stars in his pupils.

" **hmm... maybe this lamp will help you,** " Sans said, which further agitated Papyrus.

" _SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES!_ " Papyrus shouted, stomping the ground, " _ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!_ "

" **hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a** _ **skele**_ **-ton.** " Sans turned towards nobody and winked.

"NOOOO!" Asriel fell to his knees as he cried out to the heavens.

 _Must… not… laugh…!_ Chara thought.

" _SANS!_ " Papyrus yelled, still somehow not noticing Asriel.

" **come on. you're smiling.** " Sans pointed out, and Papyrus was indeed smiling at Sans' pun.

" _I AM, AND I HATE IT! SIGH… WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME… HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…?_ " Papyrus said, sounding slightly depressed.

" **wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone.** " Sans punned, while once again turning to nobody.

"STOP!" Asriel squealed. It was bad enough that his sister liked puns.

" _UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE… 'BACKBONE' INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!_ " With that, Papyrus rushed away to "attend to his puzzles."

Then he came back and said " _HEH!_ " Then he really left.

After Papyrus was out of sight, Sans spoke up, " **ok, you two can come out now.** "

Frisk stepped out from behind the lamp, and Chara stood up from behind the sentry station while laughing uncontrollably.

" **wow, kid,** " Sans said, sounding surprised, " **i'm surprised you like my sense of humor.** "

"I can't believe this!" Asriel complained, "It's bad enough I have to deal with Chara's puns! But now I have to deal with YOURS!"

"Oh come on, Asriel," Chara said with a mischievous expression on her face as she lifted a bottle of mustard from the station, "... _must_ ard you be so rude?"

"CHARAAAA! STOOOP!" Asriel yelled while Sans and Chara laughed.

" **look, as much as i like making great jokes, your pal here is right. you oughta get going since my brother might come back. and if he does… you'll have to sit through some more of my hilarious jokes.** "

"Well, I wouldn't really mind it if we had to hear more jokes…" Chara smirked. But Asriel wasn't having any of that.

"NOT NOW, CHARA! Anyway, thanks for helping us, Sans!" Asriel complained towards Chara, before thanking Sans.

" **no problem, buckos. by the way, i didn't catch your name.** " Sans pointed out.

"Oh! I'm Asriel, the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath!" Asriel exclaimed, striking his pose.

Sans tried not to laugh at how cute he was. " **asriel. cool. well, guess i'll see you later then.** "

The trio was about to leave, but Sans stopped them.

" **actually, hey… hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking… my brother's been kinda down lately… he's never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day.** "

"I'd love to try and cheer your brother up," Chara said gradually, "but since this kid and I are humans, won't he try to, like, capture us?"

" **don't worry, paps isn't dangerous. no matter how hard he tries to be. can ya do me this solid?** "

"...Sure, Sans." Chara said, slowly. She was unsure about Sans, especially considering the way he introduced himself.

" **thanks a million. i'll be up ahead if you need me.** " Sans said, proceeding to go in the wrong direction.

"But Sans, that's the-," Asriel started, but Sans had disappeared heading down the path that the trio had come, "Where'd he go?" Asriel wondered.

 _Is Sans able to use shortcuts?_ Chara pondered in disbelief. How was it possible that someone else had access to shortcuts? It made no sense, but she didn't have time to contemplate it since they were moving on. The next area had a save point that Frisk used.

*The relief of having someone new on their side fills Frisk with DETERMINATION.

There was also a box which contained an item called a "Tough Glove." Frisk put it on, though they didn't plan on hurting anybody. Chara had visibly flinched at the sight of the Tough Glove since it had been the same weapon that 'Frisk' had used to try and kill Asriel. If Chara had arrived even a moment later…

She shook away those thoughts, making sure to keep an even closer eye on Frisk.

In the next area, the trio was greeted by Sans and Papyrus, who were talking to each other.

" _SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE,-_ " Papyrus cut himself off when he noticed three people to his left. He turned in surprise towards the trio. Then he turned back to Sans just as Sans turned to the trio. Then Sans turned to Papyrus right when Papyrus turned to the trio. Then Papyrus turned. Then Sans turned. Then Papyrus. Then Sans. Papyrus. Sans. Papyrus. Sans.

This continued and increased in speed until the two skeletons were literally spinning in place.

The brothers kept spinning until they faced the opposite direction of the trio.

" _SANS! OH MY GOD! ARE THOSE… HUMANS!?_ " Papyrus asked, sounding very excited.

" **uhhhh... actually, i think that's a rock,** " Sans answered, addressing the rock that Papyrus was pointing at.

" _OH._ "

" **hey, what're those in front of the rock?** " Sans asked said, pointing to the trio.

" _OH MY GOD! (ARE… ARE THOSE HUMANS?)_ "

" **(yes.)** "

" _OH MY GOD! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! … WAIT A MOMENT. WHO IS THAT WITH THE HUMANS?_ " Papyrus asked, pointing at Asriel. He was extremely excited to have finally found humans, but he was caught off guard by the presence of Asriel.

"Who am I, you ask?! I am none other than the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath!" Asriel shouted proudly, striking his pose.

"He's Asriel," Chara said simply.

"Chara! I'm trying to make a good first impression here!" Asriel whined. Chara just shrugged.

" **jeez, kid. you sound pretty** _ **bone**_ **tired of chara, huh?** "

" _SAAANS_!" Papyrus chastised.

Chara laughed, and replied with, "Oh, come on Papyrus. Don't be so hard on Sans. _Throw him a bone._ "

"CHARA!" Asriel wailed. Papyrus groaned loudly while Sans and Chara laughed.

" _WELL, ANYWAY. *AHEM*. HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!_ " Papyrus declared.

" _I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN… THEN!_ " Papyrus took a breath but then paused.

" _I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT,_ " Chara rolled her eyes, " _IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE… ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!_ "

And with that, Papyrus ran off to prepare the puzzles.

" **well, that went well,** " Sans said indifferently.

"I'm still slightly worried about this," Chara said, looking nervous.

" **don't sweat it kids. i'll keep an eye socket out for ya.** " Sans reassured them, winking. Then he walked onward.

"You don't have to be scared, Chara! I am a puzzle expert! I can handle this!" Asriel announced, sounding very confident.

"Well, let's see where this goes..." Chara said under her breath. So, with that, the trio moved on, wondering what Papyrus would have in store for them.

* * *

Author's Note

Wow, what a creative title, am I right?! *cough*sarcasm*cough*. It's really too bad a person can't display sarcasm through text. Sorry that this one took so long. I've been busy with marching band camp. Well, thanks for reading it. Until next time, peeps!


	7. Bad to the 'Bone' Puzzles

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _Still Snowdin…_

"Well, let's see where this goes…" Chara said under her breath. With the previous entry from the skelebros, the trio moved on to see what Papyrus had in store for puzzles.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Asriel pointed out. Chara and Frisk walked over to what appeared to be a large cardboard box with a viewing hole cut out in the front. There was a sign underneath the opening.

" _YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. 'WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS,' YOU PONDER… I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN! (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN.)_ "

 _Heh… this seems like something Rei would write,_ Chara said in her head.

Moving on, the trio encountered two monsters named Ice Cap and Doggo. Frisk praised Ice Cap for its hat, and Asriel pet Doggo when he wasn't looking, so the two managed to befriend them both.

 _I don't get it,_ Chara thought while Sans was talking to Frisk about blue attacks, _Why isn't this human hurting anyone? This same person was going through my home destroying everyone I love. So… why?_

" **simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs.** " Sans finished, causing Frisk to giggle.

* * *

 _ **Puzzle #1!**_

In the next area, the trio encountered Sans and Papyrus arguing around a large patch of blue snow.

" _YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!_ " Papyrus criticized his brother.

" **i think that's called… sleeping.** " Sans countered. But Papyrus wouldn't take it.

" _YOU AND YOUR EXCUSES!_ " Papyrus groaned. Chara cleared her throat to get their attention. Papyrus turned towards them and gasped in delight.

" _OH-HO! YOU HAVE ALL ARRIVED! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!_ " Papyrus started, but he was cut off.

"You've created some puzzles, I see! HOWEVER! I, Asriel, the Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath, am a puzzle expert!" Asriel proudly declared, striking his pose.

" _WOWIE! A FELLOW PUZZLE ENTHUSIAST, I SEE! WELL, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ALSO A PUZZLE EXPERT! AND EXPERT OR NOT… YOU'VE LIKELY NEVER SEEN A PUZZLE QUITE LIKE THIS ONE BEFORE! IN FACT, I THINK YOU MAY FIND IT… QUITE 'SHOCKING,'_ " Papyrus exclaimed, very excited by Asriel's enthusiasm, " _FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!_ " Papyrus explained as he revealed said orb from seemingly nowhere, " _SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE… IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. THAT IS, OF COURSE, IF YOU ARE NOT A PUZZLE EXPERT, LIKE ASRIEL THERE! ANYWAY, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW._ "

"Hmmm…" Asriel said as he stepped up to the puzzle and started to look it over. He moved his finger towards the maze. He heard a loud zapping sound, so he quickly retracted his paw. But he didn't feel any pain, so he looked to the source of the sound.

Papyrus was holding the orb, so he had been electrocuted.

" _SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!_ " Papyrus shouted.

" **i think the person solving the puzzle has to hold the orb** ," Sans explained.

" _OH, OKAY!_ " Papyrus said. He began walking through the puzzle, leaving evident footprints as he walked, revealing the solution to the electricity puzzle. Despite such an obvious hint, Asriel's excitement over the puzzle didn't wane.

" _HOLD THIS, PLEASE!_ " Papyrus requested after he made to the other end of the puzzle. He threw the electro-orb into the air, and Frisk caught it. Papyrus ran back through the puzzle after Frisk had caught the orb. When he reached the other side he said, " _OK, TRY NOW!_ "

"Hmm… ," Asriel voiced, "I think the solution… is make our way along without getting zapped!" So he, Frisk, and Chara all went through the puzzle, one after the other, without getting zapped.

" _INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAILS! YOU SOLVED SO EASILY… TOO EASILY!_ " Chara internally chuckled at Papyrus's words, resisting the urge to laugh out loud, " _HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE… WILL NOT BE AS EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL CERTAINLY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!_ " Then Papyrus ran towards the next puzzle.

" **hey, thanks… my brother seems like he's having fun.** " Sans said before the trio left.

"I know I'm having fun!" Asriel said bouncing excitedly.

"I'm definitely going to enjoy this," Chara said, smiling.

*Frisk says that they're also having fun.

" **heh heh. that's nice to hear, kiddos,** " Sans chuckled, sounding pleased, " **by the way, did you notice the weird outfit my bro's wearing?** " He asked.

"You mean the white armor, cool scarf, and awesome gloves? They're so cool!" Asriel praised.

" **yeah, that one. we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything since. hey, speaking of which, asriel. would you mind tellin' me the story of yours?** " Sans asked, pointing at Asriel's scarf. Sans was curious because he was noticing more and more things that his brother and Asriel had in common.

"Oh! Well, I made that for him." Chara answered.

"Yeah! Chara made this for my birthday a few years ago! When I turned 6! Thanks again, big sister!" Asriel said, hugging Chara. She hugged him back.

Now, Sans is a very laid back person. As a result, not very much surprises him. But it was a shock, to say the least when he heard how Asriel addressed Chara.

" **wow,** " Sans said in wonder, his surprise rather apparent, " **guess you two are a lot closer than i first thought, huh? anyway, like i was sayin', paps hasn't worn anything else since we made that outfit. he keeps calling it his 'battle body.' you look to be sportin' a pretty nice one yourself,** " Sans said, addressing Asriel, " **man,** " Sans asked, turning to Chara, " **aren't our brothers cool?** "

"Ha ha ha ha! Are you kidding? Our brothers are the coolest!" Chara said, making Asriel blush.

Just ahead, the trio encountered the Nice Cream salesman, so Chara bought Asriel and Frisk some. Though, for Frisk, it was begrudging.

*Frisk asks Chara if she's sure that she doesn't want any Nice Cream.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Chara said sounding bitter and not looking at Frisk. She then pulls a bar of chocolate out of one of her jacket pockets, and unwraps it, before beginning to munch on it. Asriel could sense the tension coming from Chara, and he wanted to ease it.

"Hey, newcomer," Asriel asked Frisk, "Do you wanna help me solve the Ball Game?" Frisk perked up and nodded happily. Chara stood off near the end of the Ball Game, close the pathway to the next area. She was nervous watching Asriel and Frisk, but as the two moved the Ball, Chara became less and less nervous, for one reason. The human that Chara had encountered didn't even try to hide their sadistic nature. Here was the 'same' human, openly enjoying their time hanging out with Asriel. Chara was actually beginning to believe that the human might not be so bad after all.

Chara immediately stopped herself. She was being ridiculous, the human she was with was nothing more than a bloodthirsty murderer. So then why were they going out of their way to SPARE everyone? She couldn't keep thinking about that since Asriel and Frisk finished the puzzle.

"CHARA! We got the Red Flag!" Asriel yelled while bouncing up and down… again.

"That's awesome, Rei!"

"Thanks, Chara! AND DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Asriel proudly proclaimed, then squealed. After Chara and Frisk laughed, they all moved on.

* * *

 _ **Puzzle #2!**_

In the next area, the trio encountered Sans and Papyrus standing across from them, on the other side of another patch of blue snow. There was a piece of paper in the middle of it.

" _GREETINGS!_ " Papyrus exclaimed when he saw the trio, " _YOU'VE MADE IT! WELL THEN, I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR-_ " Papyrus stopped himself when he saw what appeared to be the lack of a puzzle, " _SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE?!_ " Papyrus questioned.

" **it's right there. on the ground. trust me, bro. there's no way these three can get past this one.** " Sans explained.

"Challenge accepted!" Asriel exclaimed, rushing to the piece of paper, along with Frisk. It turned out to be a word search titled "Monster Kidz Word Search." Asriel and Frisk excitedly began to solve it together, which they were doing very well… until they came to the longest word.

*Frisk frustratedly points out that there is no correct solution for the word "giasfclfebrehber."

" **ha! see? i told ya they couldn't get past it.** " Sans said, sounding slightly proud.

" _BUT WHY WOULDN'T THEY JUST LEAVE IT THERE AND GO AROUND IT?!_ " Papyrus asked angrily.

"HEY!" Asriel shouted, "How could you say such a thing, Papyrus?! I am a puzzle expert! I would never skip a puzzle!"

"Here, let me have a look," Chara said. Asriel handed the word search to Chara, having no idea how she was going to solve it. Chara looked at the paper for a few seconds, then outlined "giasfclfebrehber."

"Done," Chara said simply.

"WHAT?!" Asriel asked, bewildered, "HOW?!" Chara showed him how she circled the entire top line, except the letter "u" where the letter "e" was supposed to be. She instead circled the "e" in the word "search" of the title.

"Wow, Chara!" Asriel praised, impressed with his sister's puzzle deduction.

"Rei, sometimes, you've just gotta think outside the box."

"Chara!"

" _SANS! THAT DIDN'T WORK!_ " Papyrus shouted at his brother.

" **shoot. i knew i should've gotten today's crossword instead.** " Sans said, now back to his casual tone.

" _WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION… JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST._ "

" **what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that's for baby bones.** "

" _UN. BELIEVABLE! PUZZLE-SOLVERS!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, pointing dramatically towards the trio, " _SOLVE THIS DISPUTE FOR US!_ "

"I think… crosswords are harder." Asriel shared.

"I'm going with crosswords, here," Chara told Papyrus.

" _UGH! YOU THREE ARE WEIRD! HUMAN!_ " Papyrus proclaimed, now pointing at Frisk, " _WHAT DO YOU THINK?_ "

*Frisk ponders for a moment… and says that junior jumble is harder.

" _HA! HA! YES! YOU MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT, HUMAN! IF YOU ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!_ " Papyrus yelled before running to the next puzzle.

" **well, thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother. in fact, thanks to all of ya for doin' so much to make my brother so happy.** "

"It's only natural, Sans," Asriel chirped, "that I would want to help a fellow puzzle lover in need of assistance! URA HA HA HA HAAA!"

 _ **well, a 'signature laugh.' that's another thing for me to add to the list of things this kid and paps have in common,**_ Sans said mentally, " **so, weird story, yesterday paps got stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope.** "

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Chara laughed uncontrollably. After she composed herself, they all moved on.

The next area had a pair of wooden tables and a note. The middle table had three plates of frozen spaghetti on it. The table to the right had a microwave on it but wasn't plugged in. There was a note on the ground to the left of the tables. Chara picked it up, and read it in Papyrus' voice… to the best of her ability.

"HUMANS! AND MONSTER! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI. (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, THIS SPAGHETTI IS A TRAP… DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU! YOU'LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT… THAT YOU WON'T REALIZE THAT YOU AREN'T PROGRESSING! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS THOROUGHLY JAPED YOU!)

NYEH HEH HEH,

PAPYRUS

"Oh. My. Gosh! PAPYRUS IS A COOK TOO?!" Asriel squealed, confusing Frisk.

"Rei's always been really good at cooking," Chara explained, "Especially, when it comes to sugar cookies. I think he gets that from Mom."

"Yes! I am a cooking expert! Just as I am a puzzle expert!" Asriel exclaimed. Though Chara noticed something out of place almost immediately.

"Hang on… you didn't even say anything when I called you 'Rei.' Why's that?" Chara questioned.

"Well you see, Chara," Asriel began explaining, "I noticed that Sans was calling Papyrus 'Paps' and he wasn't complaining. So I'm starting to accept it!" Chara was rather pleased as a smile formed itself on her face.

* * *

 ***Insert montage of Frisk and Asriel vigorously petting Lesser Dog, Dogamy, and Dogaressa here.***

* * *

 _ **Puzzle #3!**_

" _GREETINGS,_ " Papyrus announced. The trio had moved past the previous few minor puzzles, and they were now on the next major one, " _HMMM… HOW DO I SAY THIS…? YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO I IMPROVED THIS PUZZLE BY MOVING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND, AND NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT!_ "

"Well, I for one enjoy a little extra challenge every now and again! URA HA HA HA!"

" _NYEH HEH HEH HEH! NOW THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR! BUT IF YOU GET STUCK, DO NOT WORRY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THE CONUNDRUM! THEN WE ALL CAN PROCEED! YOU SHOULD TRY TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE YOURSELF FIRST SINCE YOU SO DESIRE._ "

"Alright, Rei. What do you think the solution is?" Chara asked.

"Hmmm… I think the solution is… to turn all of the X's into O's!" Asriel declared.

Chara rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know that. But how do you think we're supposed to do that?"

"Oh! Well, in that case…" Asriel began directing Chara and Frisk around the puzzle. They messed up a couple times, but after a few minutes...

"YES! WE DID IT!" Asriel exclaimed, once Frisk and Chara had completed turning every X into an O. He then jumped onto the switch. With the puzzle complete, the spikes blocking the path retreated into the ground.

" _WOW! YOU SOLVED IT! AND ALL WITHOUT MY HELP! I'M VERY IMPRESSED. I'M GLAD THAT YOU ENJOY PUZZLES AS MUCH AS I DO! I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU! NYEH! HEH! HEHEHEH!_ " Once again, Papyrus ran off to the next puzzle. The trio moved on as well, but they stopped as they spotted Sans.

"Hi, Sans!" Asriel greeted.

" **heya, buds. good job on solving it so quickly. you didn't even need papyrus' help. that goes to show just how invested in this you are. and that's pretty cool.** "

"Aww, thanks, Sans!" Asriel thanked, his cheeks blushing red.

" **don't mention it kiddo. pap is up ahead with the next puzzle. you better get going.** "

*Frisk thanks, Sans once more, and moves on with Asriel.

" **hold on a sec,** " Sans said to Chara, stopping her.

"What is it? Look if wanna say something, please make it fast. I don't want to leave my little brother alone with that human for too long." Chara said, trying to usher Sans to be quick, but also attempting to remain polite. But the question made her do a double take.

" **that's exactly what i wanted to ask ya. i noticed how you wouldn't take your eyes off of 'em while they were near your bro. so... why? what harm are they gonna do? … do you know somethin' i don't…?** " Sans asked, his voice laced with suspicion. Chara wanted to tell him there was no reason, but with how much she could tell that Sans cared about Papyrus, Chara decided that he had to know that she knew how dangerous she believed Frisk was. But she didn't tell Sans what Frisk had actually done.

And she didn't know why.

" **uh-huh,** " Sans said slowly, " **you're saying how you think that kid is dangerous, but you can't actually prove it.** "

"Exactly."

" **so whaddya want me to do? i can't exactly attack them or anything. and i can't really tell papyrus. i haven't seen him this happy in a really long time.** " Sans asked.

"I want you to tell Papyrus to keep his guard up around them," Chara answered, "That's it. You don't have to say anything else. I'll stay keeping an eye on them."

"CHARA! COME ON! WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU!" Asriel called.

"Gotta go. Make sure to tell Papyrus!" Chara said as she rushed to the next puzzle.

Sans took one good look at Frisk, and he concluded that Frisk was either really good at hiding a sadistic side, or Chara was just a little too worried about her brother.

" **kid... i'm not really sure what to think of ya,** " Sans whispered, his tone very low, and his eyes hollow.

* * *

 _ **Puzzle #4!**_

Chara made it up to Asriel and Frisk seeing Sans and Papyrus on the other side of a large square of gray tiles. The trio noticed Sans and all flipped around to where Sans had just been. He had done that before, though, so they let it go… for now.

" _ALRIGHT! I'M GLAD YOU'VE ARRIVED! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! FOR IT WAS CREATED BY THE BRILLIANT DR. ALPHYS! DO YOU SEE THESE TILES?! ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH… THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR!_ "

*Frisk asks what the different colors do.

" _I AM GLAD YOU ASKED, HUMAN! RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE! THEY CANNOT BE WALKED ON! YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC TILES! THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES! IF YOU STEP ON THEM, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER! ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE-SCENTED. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. YOU CAN SWIM THROUGH THEM IF YOU WISH, BUT… IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES, THE PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU. ALSO, IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A YELLOW TILE, THE WATER ELECTROCUTE YOU! PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE! HOWEVER THE SLIPPERY SOAP… SMELLS LIKE LEMONS! WHICH PIRANHAS DO NOT LIKE! FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE!_

 _HOW WAS THAT!? UNDERSTAND?_ "

"Of, course!" Asriel declared confidently.

"Not really," Chara said, as she wracked her brain to try and remember all of the tile functions.

*Frisk says they understand.

" _AH! WELL, DO NOT FRET, HUMAN! YOUR FRIENDS WILL SURELY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU THROUGH THE PUZZLE!_ "Papyrus reassured, making Chara calm down," _OH, AND ONE OTHER THING… THIS PUZZLE… IS ENTIRELY RANDOM! ONCE IT ACTIVATES… IT WILL MAKE A PUZZLE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH! GET READY…!_ "

Once Papyrus finished talking, he threw the switch, activating the puzzle. The puzzle flashed through different colors increasing in speed until it was what might have been seizure-inducing… only to end on two patches of red tiles, and one line of pink tiles going through the middle.

Papyrus started to slowly spin into the next area.

"Awwww… this puzzle sounded so much fun since Papyrus was so excited." Asriel whined as the trio went through the line of pink tiles.

"Don't worry, Rei. There's probably some more puzzles ahead." Chara comforted, lifting Asriel's spirits a bit.

" **yep. there's one puzzle left. funny thing, that spaghetti from earlier… it wasn't actually that bad for my brother. he started taking cooking lessons not too long ago, and he's been improving ever since.** "

"Y'know, Rei," Chara said, addressing Asriel, "you're really good at cooking. Maybe you could give Papyrus some pointers."

Asriel gasped happily. "You're right, Chara! If I help Papyrus with cooking, that might make him not want to capture you anymore."

" **well, i dunno about that, but if you help paps out, he'll probably like ya even more than he already does. in fact, he might even make something edible soon.** "

"Something… edible?" Chara asked, sounding bewildered.

"Oh, boy. Papyrus is gonna be a toughie. But, darn it, I'll do it anyway! Because I am ASRIEL, The absolute GOD of Hyperdeath!" Asriel declared, striking his pose.

"Awesome, Asriel. Welp, let's get moving!" Chara said, and the trio moved onwards.

* * *

 ***Several minutes of Frisk, Asriel, and Chara solving an ice "X" to "O" puzzle, and playing fetch with Greater Dog until he fell asleep later.***

* * *

 _ **FINAL PUZZLE!**_

The trio, after solving several more mini puzzles and befriending Greater Dog, arrived at what looked to be an extremely long and unstable wooden bridge. Though, upon closer inspection, it was actually an extremely long, stable rock formation painted to look like a wooden bridge, and with a rope lining each side. The three encountered Papyrus and Sans after they had almost reached the other side.

"Hi, Papyrus! Hi, Sans!" Asriel called to them, waving. Papyrus waved back.

" _GREETINGS ONCE AGAIN! I HOPE YOU ARE PREPARED, FOR THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! 'THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR'!_ " When Papyrus said the name of the puzzle, several lethal devices emerged, along with a dog on a rope… prompting Asriel to hide behind Chara, while shivering his tail off.

" _WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN! ARE YOU ALL READY!?_

 _BECAUSE!_

 _I!_

 _AM!_

 _ABOUT!_

 _TO DO IT!_ " Papyrus shouted in triumph. But the puzzle didn't activate, prompting Sans to ask why.

" **well? what's the holdup?** "

" _HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I'M… I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!_ " Papyrus said, trying to reassert his victory. But everyone could hear the hesitation in his voice.

That gave Asriel an idea.

"Papyrus! Didn't you say that you're a puzzle enthusiast?" Asriel asked quickly. Papyrus was slightly caught off guard by his question.

" _YES. I DID! WHY DO YOU ASK?_ " Papyrus questioned, confused as to where Asriel was going with this.

"But how can you call yourself that if you employ something almost impossible to get past?!" Asriel asked.

Papyrus gasped in horror and shock, " _OH NO! YOU ARE CORRECT, YOUNG GOD OF HYPERDEATH! THIS CHALLENGE IS FAR TOO EASY TO DEFEAT YOU THREE WITH! YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! SO, AWAY IT GOES!_ " Papyrus's words caused the traps to retract. But Papyrus seemed a little… too relieved about the fact that Asriel came up with such a loophole. Frisk, Chara, and Asriel were giving him a funny look because of that.

" _WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH! … HEH?_ " Papyrus finished, running off to prepare for whatever he was going to do next.

"YES! I did it! I solved 'The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror'! Papyrus is definitely going to like me now!" Asriel squealed ecstatically.

*Frisk asks if Asriel was trying to become friends with Papyrus the whole time, as well.

"Yes, I was! Wait, you were, too? That's so cool!" Asriel squeaked.

" **wow. that's, uh… really nice of you two.** " Sans said, impressed by Asriel and Frisk's pacifism.

*Frisk says that it was their philosophy to help people rather than hurt them.

" **...woah. well, as for my brother… i'm not sure what he's gonna do next. if i were you guys, i'd make sure i understand blue attacks.** " Sans advised.

Nodding affirmatively, the group moved on to what Frisk viewed as beautiful. But to Chara and Asriel, it was a painful reminder of what had happened. It was a painful reminder that they had their home stolen from them.

"Welcome to Snowdin" is what the large banner read.

* * *

 _Author's Note_

Jeez, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. There might be chapters even longer than this one, but that's unlikely. So, the Snowdin Ark is almost done already. I can't believe I'm pumping these out so fast. Well, thanks for reading. I also don't think that the next chapter is going to be nearly as long since it finishes Snowdin. 'Til next time, when we wrap up the Snowdin Ark.


	8. From Strife to Hangout

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _ **StoryShift…**_

Asriel couldn't believe it.

He was standing in the Judgment Hall, and hot tears were trickling down his face, drop by drop. He was wearing his big sister's sweater… after she had protected him from the human.

" _L-Listen, Rei. W-When I tell you to r-run, you n-need to run,_ " Chara had said as her final words. Asriel had just ran away as fast he could. After he had arrived in New Home, he learned that both of his parents had been murdered. Toriel had confronted the human, and though she had come very close to winning, she was killed by the human. After Asgore had found out that his wife had been murdered by the human, he decided to confront them himself. He had also come extremely close to taking them down, but it just wasn't enough.

The human was now covered in his dust.

Asriel was waiting for them in the Judgment Hall, waiting for the human so he could confront them. Sure enough, they had arrived rather soon, covered in dust and Chara's blood, staring at him with a completely blank expression.

"Howdy, newcomer," Asriel greeted somberly. Frisk didn't react to what he said. He sighed quietly and continued, "I just don't understand. I wanted to help you. I wasn't even trying to hurt you. I just wanted to help you. So… why? Why did you try to kill me when I was trying to help you? Why did you kill everyone? Why did you kill my mommy and daddy?! Why did you kill Chara?!" Asriel screamed, as he began to lose his composure. He fell onto his knees and started to cry again.

*Frisk smiles and says that they killed all of those people because they think it's fun.

Asriel turned his head to Frisk with his eyes opened very wide. He couldn't believe what the human had just told him.

"You killed everyone I love… because it was… fun?" Asriel whispered. He couldn't believe it. Then something unexpected happened. Rage replaced Asriel's shock and grief, "Because it was _**fun**_?!"

Frisk took a step back in slight surprise as Asriel slowly stood up. His appearance had just become more intimidating. The sclera of his eyes had become black. His bright green eyes turned into white spots, and two black chevrons had appeared on his cheeks, contrasting his snow white fur. But that wasn't the strangest thing about him.

His face was contorted into something that was absolutely enraged. An expression that Frisk was legitimately amazed to see. They never expected Asriel of all monsters to look at them in such a way. Though that was mostly because every other RESET he had died still believing in them.

" **You killed my family because it was fun, huh?** " Asriel growled, baring his teeth. " **So we're just a bunch of toys to you, huh? Well then, I'm gonna have loads of fun playing with you, my little palsie walsie…** " With that, he summoned a pair of Chaos Sabres to fight with. Frisk smiled sadistically and raised their knife. Asriel responded by raising his Chaos Sabres towards Frisk.

" _ **LET'S GO.**_ " The battle began.

Frisk and Asriel began clashing weapons back and forth. Asriel called forth one of his special attacks, Shocker Breaker, and used it to zap Frisk multiple times. The damage from the rainbow lightning bolts was astonishingly high. Struggling to their feet, Frisk performed a CHECK on Asriel.

As with Chara, Asriel's stats were ludicrous.

*God of Hyperdeath - ATK 999 - DEF 999

*Willing to stand his ground against you until the end of time if he has to.

*He is filled with PERSEVERANCE.

At first, these STATS held little meaning to Frisk, since they could just come back every time they were killed, but the last one caught their attention.

PERSEVERANCE.

Why did Frisk notice that? Yeah, I'm breaking the fourth wall. Think about the definitions of DETERMINATION and PERSEVERANCE. DETERMINATION is the will to move forward regardless of what will try to stop you. PERSEVERANCE is the will to stand your ground regardless of what will try to pass you. That meant that perseverance should provide power that is very similar to that of determination. Frisk tried to reload to their SAVE POINT at the entrance of the Judgment Hall.

 _ **But they couldn't…**_

It seemed that Asriel's perseverance was powerful enough to cancel out Frisk's determination. If that were true, should Frisk be killed again… they might be unable to come back…

If that was true, then they could lose.

For real this time.

The battle continued. Asriel attacked Frisk with his Chaos Sabres. Frisk attempted to counter with their knife, but they still ended up taking damage. A LOT of damage. Frisk quickly ate a Cinnamon Bunny so they could at least survive the next turn. Asriel used another special attack, Star Blazing, which rained stars down from the heavens and nearly annihilated Frisk. Frisk was starting to lose their determination. They couldn't risk attacking Asriel since they thought that they couldn't come back from death if they couldn't access a SAVE POINT. But they did notice something that could be of use to them.

*Asriel is getting tired.

*Can't keep fighting forever.

*Just stay alive.

That realization reignited Frisk's evil determination and gave them a second wind. It gave them enough power to heal on each turn. It wasn't by much, but it was enough to allow them to survive Asriel's next turn. And they needed it.

Asriel fired one of his most lethal attacks: Chaos Buster. It shot a series of projectiles at Frisk before shooting a colossal rainbow laser. They were grazed by the laser but were otherwise alright. Asriel had almost run out of steam, so he needed to end the fight here with the most powerful attack he knew.

Universal Blazing: A much more powerful and more difficult to dodge version of Star Blazing. More powerful than even Galacta Blazing. This last attack would eat up what little stamina he had left, but it was his last resort.

Many large stars rained down from the sky in extremely high numbers, and each one almost killed Frisk, what with the explosions producing many tiny, but just as damaging stars. The attack lasted for a good few minutes, but Frisk managed to survive until the final part of the offense. A huge star rained down and exploded into thousands of smaller stars.

Frisk was hit by nearly all of the stars. But they survived. Barely.

Asriel's power started to wane as his transformation reversed and he returned to normal. He felt an intense wave of dizziness wash over him, and he collapsed onto his back, breathing slowly and steadily.

Frisk shakily stood to their feet, bleeding heavily from the multiple wounds on their body. But after they had eaten all of the food they had left, they were perfectly fine again. With a demented expression of triumph, Frisk walked up to Asriel, picked him by the neck, and raised him over their head.

 _I'm so sorry…_ Asriel lamented internally. He was sobbing quietly for the last time in his despair at his failure to stop the human. _Mom, Dad, Chara… I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough for you… I'm so sorry…_

*Frisk smirks at Asriel's crying and tells him not to worry, that he'll be seeing his "worthless" family soon.

Asriel closes his eyes, accepting his fate. Frisk slashes at his face…

* * *

"AHHHHHHH!" Asriel screamed out in terror and simultaneously jolted up in the bed. He looked around, wondering where he was. As he surveyed his surroundings, it came back to him.

Soon after arriving in Snowdin and having something of a "dinner" at Grillby's, he, Chara, and Frisk were staying at the Snowed Inn for the night. Chara's sweater was hanging on the lamp in the corner of the room. Asriel had taken off his coat and snow pants and had laid them on the dresser across from the at least Queen size bed the trio shared. He was wearing a light green T-shirt and rainbow shorts underneath.

 _Oh… it was just a bad dream,_ Asriel realized. But he was still very disturbed by how _vivid_ it was.

Asriel suddenly heard someone stirring next to him. Chara had inevitably heard Asriel's scream since it had been so loud, though she hadn't wholly recognized what the sound was since she had been asleep next to him.

"Ugh… what's with all the no-" Chara started to ask drowsily, sitting up slowly. But then she noticed Asriel's tear-stained face looking back at her. After seeing that, she was wide awake.

"Oh, my gosh, Asriel! What's wrong?!" Chara asked with shock and concern.

"N-Nothing. I… I-I'm fine," Asriel hiccuped, trying to hide his tears, but they were still flowing slowly.

"C'mon, Az. I just wanna help you…" Chara said gently. She knew her little brother wanted her to think he could handle himself, but she was his big sister. It was her responsibility to make sure Asriel was okay.

Asriel was going to insist that he was fine, but he couldn't do that. It was already rather evident that Chara wasn't going to take that for an answer.

"I… I had a bad dream," Asriel admitted, his tears picking up ever so slightly.

"Oh… Do you wanna talk about it…?" Chara asked softly, rubbing Asriel's back gingerly.

Asriel hesitated for a moment, looking to see if Frisk was still asleep. Noticing they were, Asriel explained what he experienced. Chara's death, learning about their mother and father's death, having to fight the human by himself, and how he woke up just before the human had killed him.

"…" Chara couldn't say anything. She was feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt since she thought it was her fault that he had to go through that.

Out of nowhere, Asriel threw his arms around Chara in a hug and started full on sobbing with his face in her chest. It startled Chara a bit, but she hugged him back anyway.

"I… I…," Asriel cried, his voice slightly muffled, "I'm just so worried that it's gonna happen again… I… I don't wanna lose you Chara!" That surprised Chara. She had thought that Asriel was so nice to the human because he felt they had changed like it seemed they had, but apparently he was trying to keep them away from Genocide.

 **Like last time…**

It hurt Chara so much to hear how terrified he sounded. She needed a way to reassure him that such a thing would never happen again.

 _But how?_

Chara quickly had an idea. She started humming a melody that was always able to soothe Asriel when he was a baby and continued to hold that ability.

 _His theme._

As she hummed, Asriel's cries slowly got softer, and soon after that, his eyes began to droop. He adorably struggled to stay awake, but the musically perfect voice and Chara snuggling him closer in her embrace was enough to make him fall asleep.

"Everything will be okay, Azzy," Chara reassured Asriel softly, "I promise." Chara finished by kissing him on the forehead before laying him down and tucking him in next to her, "Sweet dreams, little brother." Chara whispered before allowing herself to sleep.

Asriel's mind was full of far more pleasant dreams for the rest of the night.

* * *

 _The next day…_

"WOOHOO!" Asriel exclaimed, practically jumping out of Grillby's after the trio finished their breakfast.

"You're really rarin' to go aren't you, Rei?" Chara asked, slightly amused at her brother's eagerness.

"Of course I am! Who knows what kind of awesome puzzles Papyrus has in store for us?!" Asriel said, making a "squee" sound… before blushing and clearing his throat. Chara and Frisk giggled at him before they all moved on.

After walking for a little bit, the trio ended up in the dense fog that covered the pathway between Snowdin and Waterfall. There they discovered Papyrus standing by himself ominously.

" _GREETINGS, HUMANS. I HAD… EXPECTED TO SEE YOU RATHER SOON._ " Papyrus began, lacking in his usual jubilant attitude. He noticed Asriel was with the trio and sighed sadly. Papyrus knew that Asriel was friends with the two humans, but he needed to capture them… right?

" _ASRIEL, I MUST REQUEST THAT YOU WAIT OUTSIDE OF THIS AREA. I MUST SPEAK WITH THE HUMANS. ALONE._ " Papyrus requested. Asriel was slightly off-put by the way Papyrus was talking.

"I… I don't know about that, Papyrus… you said that you wanted to capture them and-" Asriel worried before he was cut off by Chara.

"Rei, we'll be fine. I mean, I'm pretty sure he was joking," Chara reasoned. She had often been the voice of reason to Asriel whenever he had long drawn out fantasies of very unrealistic scenarios. It had taken a little while, but Asriel had learned to trust her judgment.

"Alright, Chara… I trust you." Asriel said. He and Chara hugged, and he went over by the skeletons' house. Chara looked at Papyrus patiently, awaiting his words. Frisk eyed him nervously, tense as they awaited his words.

" _HUMANS. I'M NOT SURE HOW I SHOULD SAY THIS. AS DO I. YOU SEEM TO HAVE EASILY BEFRIEND ASRIEL. THE THREE OF YOU TRULY SEEM TO ENJOY PUZZLES… HOW WONDERFUL IT WOULD BE TO BE FRIENDS…_ " Papyrus finished.

"So you wanna be friends, huh? Sure, Papyrus. I mean, why not?" Chara answered.

*Frisk takes on an incredibly excited expression and rapidly nods their head.

Papyrus perked up almost immediately and said, " _YES! EXCELLENT! FEAR NOT, LONELY HUMANS FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR…_ " Papyrus cut himself off, confusing Frisk and Chara.

" _NO… NO, WHAT AM I THINKING?! THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CANNOT BE YOUR FRIEND!_ " Papyrus shouted, causing Frisk to slightly wilt, and causing Chara to sigh, sounding exasperated, " _YOU ARE BOTH HUMANS! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! ONLY THEN CAN I FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!_

 _POWERFUL!_

 _POPULAR!_

 _PRESTIGIOUS!_

 _THAT IS I, PAPYRUS!_

 _THE NEWEST AND GREATEST MEMBER… OF THE ROYAL GUARD_!"

* * *

 _Papyrus blocks the way!_

With Papyrus's prompt came the fight. Chara pulled out her knife prepared to defend herself but kept in mind that she shouldn't attack Papyrus because Sans had threatened her.

She and Frisk seemed to be thinking the same thing, as they both didn't attack Papyrus after evading his first attack.

"Is that all you got?" Chara taunted. Papyrus seemed more eager to capture capable humans. Though it confused him as to why they didn't attack.

" _YOU HANDLED MY ATTACK SO EASILY… AND YOU WILL NOT FIGHT… THEN LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE MY FABLED_ _ **BLUE ATTACK**_ _!_ " Most people would have been worried at hearing that, but Chara and Frisk managed to understand blue attacks enough to know what to do. Papyrus sent a lot of blue bones towards Chara and Frisk, but the two quickly managed to avoid taking damage by staying still… until they felt the force of gravity on them significantly increase, which resulted in the two getting hit by a small white bone, which hurt Frisk and knocked them over, but it didn't really do anything to Chara other than knocking her off her feet.

" _YOU'RE BLUE NOW! THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!_ "

 _I am giving Sans a piece of my mind after this_ , Chara thought, one of her eyes twitching.

(Begin "Bonetrousle")

* * *

 _ **STRIFE!**_

Papyrus sent some more bone attacks at his opponents, which was shakily, but successfully, jumped over.

*Frisk pleads with Papyrus, telling him that they don't want to fight. But Papyrus is too busy fighting and doesn't hear.

" _I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY,_ " Papyrus shouts as he sends more bone attacks, " _PAPYRUS: HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE! UNDYNE WILL BE SO PROUD OF ME!_ "

Chara had so far dodged all of Papyrus's many bone attacks with ease, though Frisk was having a bit more trouble and was forced to eat a few items to regain HP.

" _I'LL HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE TO ADMIRE MY UNMATCHED GREATNESS. BUT…_ " Papyrus stopped, catching the two humans' attention. This was the first time that Papyrus had dropped his excitement since the fight started.

" _WILL ANYONE LIKE ME THE SAME AS YOU DO? PEOPLE LIKE YOU SEEM VERY RARE… AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE YOU ONCE YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY…_ "

*Frisk looks hopeful. They think they are getting through to Papyrus. But they weren't. Kinda?

" _URGH… WHO CARES?! GIVE UP!_ " Papyrus shouted, " _GIVE UP OR FACE MY…_ _ **SPECIAL ATTACK**_ _!_ " Sans had mentioned not long ago that Papyrus had " **a very special attack** ," but he hadn't said what it was. Neither Frisk nor Chara really wanted to know what it was.

* * *

 _Several minutes of bone attacks and Papyrus boasts about a special attack later…_

* * *

" _THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE BEFORE I-_ " Papyrus started, but he was cut off by Chara.

"OK listen, Papyrus. You keep going on about how you're gonna use that special attack, but it's been like ten minutes since then. Are you gonna use the special attack or not?!" Chara asked loudly, losing her patience.

" _...VERY WELL, HUMAN. BEHOLD… MY_ _ **SPECIAL ATTACK**_ _!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, revealing his special attack… Which was a dog chewing a bone?

"..." Chara said nothing, as she wore a confused expression.

*Frisk is very surprised by Papyrus's special attack.

" _WHAT THE HECK! THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK! HEY! YOU STUPID DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME?! STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!_ " The dog didn't listen to Papyrus's command, and started to run away, " _HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! GET BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!_ "

" _...OH WELL. I'LL JUST USE A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK._ "

 _I feel a strange mix of gratitude… and pity_ , Chara said to herself.

" _*SIGH* HERE IS AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK._ " Papyrus sighed. He attacked with several more bone attacks before the dog rushed at Chara and Frisk, and then some bones that were arranged into the words "cool dude" were sent to them, after which a bone on a skateboard came at them. Finally, Papyrus sent an extremely long array of bones that ended with a very tall bone at the humans.

*Frisk is freaking out because they think there isn't any way to avoid this last attack.

Chara started thinking quickly, wondering how they were supposed to dodge the attack. The attack had gotten very close rather quickly, however, so Chara and Frisk had to resort to jumping over it… which surprised them when they levitated over the entire attack, including the giant bone at the end. Chara and Frisk look to each other with extremely confused expressions. They had no time to think about it because Papyrus had started speaking again.

" _WELL…! *HUFF* IT'S CLEAR… YOU CAN'T! *HUFF* DEFEAT ME! YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS!_ " Papyrus shouted while beginning to slightly shake in his red boots. He had started shaking because he had noticed that, while Frisk was somewhat injured after his "really cool regular attack," Chara didn't have a single scratch on her, " _THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL_ _ **SPARE**_ _YOU, HUMANS! NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY_ _ **MERCY**_ _._ "

*Frisk accepts Papyrus's **MERCY** … right after they finish eating a Bisicle.

"Alright, Papyrus. I accept your mercy." Chara said, rolling her eyes. As soon as she finished, the fog cleared up. Papyrus was facing away from her and Frisk, with a saddened expression on his face (as far as a skeleton can facially express emotion).

" _NYOO HOO HOO… I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU TWO. UNDYNE IS GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD… AND… NOW THAT I HAVE TRIED TO CAPTURE YOU… I HAVE RUINED MY ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR MY FRIEND QUANTITY TO BE MORE THAN 0._ "

*Frisk, without any prompting at all, asks Papyrus if he wants to be friends again.

Chara was amazed at the kid. Papyrus had essentially been attempting to kill both herself and them, even if was inadvertent.

" _REALLY!? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME? WELL THEN… I GUESS… I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU! AND WHAT SAY YOU, HUMAN CHARA?_ "

"Sure, Papyrus. I'll be friends with you." Chara said, smiling.

" _HOORAY!_ " Papyrus shouted, his joyful expression returning, " _I HAVE TWO FRIENDS NOW! WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT TO MAKE FRIENDS… I JUST NEEDED TO GIVE THEM TERRIBLE PUZZLES TO SOLVE AND THEN FIGHT THEM? YOU HAVE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH, HUMANS,_ " Chara face-palmed at how boneheaded Papyrus was being, " _I HEREBY GRANT YOU PERMISSION TO PASS. I'LL EVEN GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE!_ " Chara snorted. He didn't know that Chara wasn't planning on going to the surface, " _CONTINUE FORWARD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN, THEN… WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, YOU MUST CROSS_ _ **THE BARRIER**_ _. THAT IS THE MAGICAL SEAL THAT TRAPS US UNDERGROUND._ _ANYTHING CAN ENTER, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT… UNLESS THEY HAVE A POWERFUL SOUL! LIKE YOU TWO! THAT IS WHY THE KING WISHES TO COLLECT A HUMAN. HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THEN, THE MONSTER RACE CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE WORLD! OH, AND ONE MORE THING,_ " Papyrus said, his expression shifting to a serious one, " _TO REACH THE SURFACE WORLD, YOU MUST PASS THROUGH…_ _ **THE KING**_ _'S CASTLE._ _ **THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS… HE IS… WELL…**_ _HE'S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER_!" Chara immediately gasped in surprise. A big fuzzy pushover as king… it was undoubtedly Asgore, her father. Her mom living in the ruins… Her dad as the king… What in the world was going on? Her mom had always been captain of the royal guard! Her dad had always been the royal scientist! This didn't make any sense…

" _HUMAN CHARA_!" Papyrus asked loudly, snapping Chara out of her inner conflict, " _WHAT IS THE MATTER? YOU SUDDENLY STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION TO ANYTHING AROUND YOU!_ " Frisk was also looking at Chara with a mix of concern and confusion.

"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine…" Chara answered, her bangs shadowing her eyes. Papyrus and Frisk weren't exactly convinced, but they decided that it wouldn't help to press the subject further.

" _WELL… IF YOU SAY SO. AS I WAS SAYING, THE KING IS A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER! EVERYONE LOVES THAT GUY! I AM CERTAIN IF YOU SIMPLY SAY… 'EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR… MAY I PLEASE GO HOME?' HE'LL GUIDE YOU TO BARRIER HIMSELF! ANYWAY! ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HANG OUT! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!_ " Once Papyrus had finished speaking, he started walking through the air, over Chara and Frisk.

*Frisk questions the laws of physics for a moment… before Asriel comes running up to them and Chara.

"Hey, Chara! Hey, newcomer! You're finally done talking with Papyrus! Sooooooo… how did things gooooo?"

"Oh, it went just fine, Rei. Y'know considering Papyrus just tried to capture us." Chara said casually.

"CHARA!" Asriel shouted, "I told you that you shouldn't have stayed with Papyrus on your own! Why didn't you-"

*Frisk stops Asriel and tells him that everything is okay since Papyrus is officially friends with them.

Asriel gasped for a comically long period of time and grabbed his sister's shoulders yelling, "REALLY?! OH MY GOSH, THAT'S SO GREAT, WE HAVE TO HANG OUT WITH HIM NOW!"

"Wait, hang on! Maybe we should-" Chara didn't get to finish since she was being dragged by Asriel over to Papyrus's house with Frisk following close behind.

" _HELLO! IT SEEMS YOU CAME BACK TO HANG OUT WITH ME! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS… I MUST TAKE YOU THREE SOMEPLACE VERY SPECIAL… SOMEWHERE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!_ " Papyrus started to run in the direction of his puzzles.

 _Okay, where could we be going…? Asriel wondered as he, Frisk, and Chara followed Papyrus, Not the library… or 'librarby' I should say. He's turning before we get to Grillby's so-,_ Asriel's expression became confused when Papyrus led them all to where they had just started.

" _MY HOUSE!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, rushing inside.

Chara snorted, struggling to suppress her laughter. She had a feeling that hanging out with Papyrus was going to be hilarious. And the three entered.

Papyrus's house was rather large. It had a green couch against the back wall, left of the entrance. There was a doorway directly across from the entrance, leading into the kitchen. There was a staircase that led up to two doors. There was a long table to the right of the entrance, against a wall.

*Frisk asks what the rock on the table is for. They also ask why it's covered in sprinkles.

" _THAT'S MY BROTHER'S PET ROCK! HE ALWAYS FORGETS TO FEED IT, THOUGH. SO, AS USUAL, I HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY._ " Papyrus answered, with Frisk giggling at how silly he was. Asriel decided to enter the kitchen, so Papyrus rushed over the entrance of it.

"Wow, Papyrus," Asriel admired, "Your sink is really tall!"

" _I'M GLAD YOU NOTICED! AS YOU CAN SEE, I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK SO I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDERNEATH. TAKE A LOOKSY IF YOU WANT!_ " Papyrus said. Asriel opened the door under the sink… and gasped when he saw the dog that stole Papyrus's special attack.

" _WHAT?!_ " Papyrus shouted as the dog ran out from the kitchen, " _CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!_ " Asriel attempted to stop it by diving into it, as did Frisk, but they both missed, smacking into each other's faces.

" _CURSES!_ " Papyrus yelled. Sans popped out of his room, playing the "wah wah waaaah" sound on a trombone, " _SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!_ " Chara was sniggering like crazy, desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

"What's so funny, Chara?" Asriel asked.

"Oh, nothing," Chara answered, snorting, "I just never would have guessed that Sans would have played the tromBONE." Chara burst into laughter when she was done, and a "ba-dum-tsh" sound came from Sans's room.

"CHARAAAAAA!" Asriel yelled, while Papyrus loudly groaned, and Frisk laughed with her.

After that was done, the trio examined the house for a little while longer. The noteworthy things they found were a quantumly entangled joke book, finding a game show that wasn't showing on TV, a dirty sock with a series of notes next to it, and a painting of a bone.

" _THAT'S MY ROOM!_ " Papyrus pointed out when Asriel went up to the door, " _I SUPPOSE IF THE THREE OF YOU ARE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND… WE COULD… GO IN AND DO WHAT PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY HANG OUT?_ "

"What do you think, guys?" Asriel asked.

"Well, I think I'm done here."

*Frisk is ready as well.

* * *

 _Papyrus's Room…_

Papyrus's room was rather interesting, as well. There was a purple rug with flames on the border of it, a desk with a computer on it, a race car bed, a bookshelf with many books of varying genre, and a table with many action figures on it. After examining the room for a few minutes, the trio went up to Papyrus.

" _SO,_ " Papyrus started, " _IF YOU'VE SEEN EVERYTHING… DO YOU WANT TO START HANGING OUT?_ "

The three answered "Yes."

" _ALRIGHT! LET'S HANG TEN!_ "

Hangout Start!

" _HERE WE ARE! HANGING OUT! I'VE ACTUALLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE… BUT DON'T WORRY! YOU CAN'T SPELL 'PREPARED' WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME! I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL HANGOUT RULEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, trying to seem as ready as possible.

" _LET'S SEE,_ " Papyrus said, opening the book and examining it, " _'_ _STEP ONE: PRESS THE [C] KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD FOR HANGOUT HUD.'_ " Just after Papyrus had finished speaking, several informational panels popped in from out of nowhere without anybody doing anything.

 _What in the world?_ Chara thought. _H_ _ow did that just happen?! It's like there's someone watching who knew when to make that happen. Like… like the writer of a story… no, that was just a coincidence._ Chara finished, as Papyrus admired the "Hangout HUD."

" _WOWIE! I FEEL SO INFORMED! NOW FOR STEP 2! 'STEP 2: ASK THEM TO HANG OUT WITH YOU.' WELL, I HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT, BUT WE CAN'T JUST SKIP A STEP! AHEM! NEW FRIENDS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HANG OUT WITH YOU!_ "

"We already did this, but okay."

"Yes, Papyrus! I'll hang out with you!"

*Frisk says that they will hang out with Papyrus.

" _R-REALLY? WOWIE!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, somehow blushing, " _I THINK THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR PART THREE! 'STEP 3: PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW THAT YOU CARE,'_ Papyrus paused, glaring at the three kids in front of him.

"W-What's the matter, Papyrus?" Asriel stammered.

"' _WEAR CLOTHING,'_ " Papyrus said flatly, " _THAT SCARF AROUND YOUR NECK… AND YOU,_ " Papyrus said, pointing at Chara and Frisk, causing them to step back slightly, " _THE BANDANA AROUND YOUR HEAD… THE LOCKET AROUND YOUR NECK! YOU'RE ALL WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW! AND NOT ONLY THAT BUT EARLIER TODAY YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING! NO… COULD IT BE? HAVE YOU ALL WANTED TO HANG OUT WITH ME FROM THE INSTANT WE MET!?_ "

Frisk and Asriel start rapidly nodding their heads.

"...Sure, Papyrus. Sure." Chara said, chuckling slightly while shaking her head in amazement at Papyrus's antics.

*BAM*

All of the HUD displays disappeared.

" _NOOOOOO!_ " Papyrus shouted, his "eyes" bulging cartoonishly, " _YOU PLANNED IT ALL FROM THE START! YOU'RE WAY BETTER AT HANG OUT THAN I AM! N-NOOOO! YOUR_ _ **FRIENDSHIP POWER**_ _… !_ " A meter labeled "friend power" appeared and slowly filled up about a third of the way with blue. Papyrus quickly recovered from his shock, taking on a determined expression. The "friend power" meter disappeared, replaced by a line graph labeled "tension," " _NYEH! NYEH HEH HEH! DON'T THINK YOU'VE BESTED ME YET!_ " Papyrus exclaimed, " _I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NEVER BEEN DEFEATED AT HANGOUT, AND I NEVER WILL BE!_ "

Chara leaned next to Asriel to whisper in his ear, "Didn't he tell us that he's never hung out with anyone before?"

"C'mon, Chara. If he's never been on a hang out before, then how could he have been beaten?" Asriel answered.

"...Touché."

" _I CAN EASILY KEEP UP WITH YOU! FOR YOU SEE, I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING! IN FACT, I ALWAYS WEAR MY 'SPECIAL' CLOTHES UNDERNEATH MY REGULAR CLOTHES! JUST IN CASE ANYONE ASKS ME TO HANG OUT! BEHOLD!_ " Papyrus then dashed into his closet, and emerged after a minute or two wearing his "special clothes."

" _NYEH! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE!?_ "

*Frisk says they love it.

"Oh. My. Gosh! It's soooo COOL! Chara, what do you think?!" Asriel said gleefully.

"Well, umm… It's so… you…" Chara said carefully.

" _OF COURSE IT IS I! WHY WEAR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT MYSELF? WAIT A MOMENT. NO! GENUINE COMPLIMENTS!_ "

 _*BAM. The friendship meter increases to ¾ full. The three admire how… uniquely they make friends with Papyrus._

" _NO! I HAVE NOT BEEN BEATEN!_ " Papyrus shouted.

"Oh? And how's that?" Chara questioned.

Papyrus grinned and proudly said, " _BECAUSE… YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE TRUE POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! SO WHAT YOU SAID IS NOT VALID!_ " The friendship meter decreased slightly, " _OUR HANGOUT CANNOT ESCALATE ANY FURTHER… UNLESS YOU FIND MY SECRET! PERHAPS YOU COULD SEE IT AS… A PUZZLE TO SOLVE!_ "

"Alright, Rei. Why don't you take a shot at this?" Chara offered.

"Sure thing, Chara! Alright," Asriel started, rubbing his paws together, "Let's see what we've got here…" Asriel examined all of his different clothing pieces, but there was nothing remarkable about them… except for the hat. It had slight bumps on the top of it… like it was concealing a box.

"What about your hat, Papyrus?" Asriel questioned.

" _MY HAT…? MY HAT. MY HAT! NYEH HEH HEH!_ " Papyrus removed his hat from his head, revealing a small present underneath, much to Asriel's glee, " _W-WELL, YOU FOUND MY SECRET! I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO CHOICE! IT'S A PRESENT… JUST FOR YOU THREE!_ "

*Frisk decides to open the present. They open it… inside is a plate of spaghetti.

" _DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? 'SPAGHETTI.' THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING, RIGHT?_ "

"Uh-huh," They all said.

" _RIGHT! BUT OH-SO WRONG! THIS AIN'T ANY PLAIN OL' PASTA! THIS IS AN ARTISAN'S WORK! SILKEN SPAGHETTI FINELY IN AN OAKEN CAST… AND EXPERTLY COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS! NOW! IT'S TIME TO END THIS! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CAN GO ANY FURTHER! … ALTHOUGH, IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE MISCALCULATED THE AMOUNT THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY. I GUESS THAT MEANS ONLY ONE OF YOU CAN HAVE IT._ " Papyrus shouted proudly, before speaking the last bit a little nervously.

"Wait, didn't Sans say that if Papyrus kept up his cooking lessons, he might make something edible next year?" Asriel whispered, leaning up to Chara's ear.

"Yeah, I think so… Do you wanna try it?" Chara whispered back.

"Nooooo… Not reallyyyy…" Asriel said quietly.

"I don't really want to either… I'll make the kid eat it."

"Chara! That's not nice!" Asriel objected, but Chara didn't listen. Luckily Papyrus didn't seem to hear.

"Hey, Papyrus," Chara said, pushing Frisk towards him, "The kid here wants to try your spaghetti."

" _WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SO WILLING TO PASS THIS UP! WELL, HUMAN! GO AHEAD!_ " Papyrus said, holding the plate of spaghetti out for Frisk.

*Frisk hesitates, thinking of what Sans said earlier about Papyrus's cooking. But they don't want to make Papyrus sad, so they take a small bite. Their face reflexively scrunches up, as the taste of the spaghetti is indescribable.

Papyrus seemed delighted with Frisk, " _WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! YOU MUST REALLY LIKE MY COOKING,_ " Chara had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Papyrus suddenly gasped and shouted, " _IF YOU LIKE MY COOKING SO MUCH THEN YOU MUST REALLY LIKE ME BY EXTENT! AND CHARA AND ASRIEL OFFERED TO LET YOU EAT IT! THEY MUST REALLY LIKE YOU! AND BY EXTENSION, ME!_ "

 _*BAM*_

 _*BAM*_

 _ ***BAM***_

 **The friendship meter filled entirely and overflowed.**

" _ **FRIENDS. IT'S CLEAR NOW… YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH ME. EVERYTHING YOU DO, EVERYTHING YOU SAY… IT'S ALL BEEN FOR MY SAKE. I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, TOO. IT'S TIME FOR ME TO ADMIT MY TRUE FEELINGS. I, PAPYRUS…**_ "

" _HMM… WELL, I'M FLATTERED YOU CARE SO MUCH! BUT MAYBE COOL IT A LITTLE…? I MEAN, YOU ARE VERY NICE PEOPLE. BUT, I THINK YOU COULD REACH MORE MAX POTENTIAL… IF YOU LIVED MORE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE RATHER THAN JUST MINE!" Papyrus put his hand to his chin in thought for a moment, "I KNOW! YOU COULD HANG OUT WITH MY BOSS, UNDYNE! YOU SEE IF YOU SPREAD OUT YOUR FOCUS ON FRIENDS… YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE! NYEH-HEH-HEH! OH, ONE FINAL THING. IF EVER NEED MY ASSISTANCE, HERE IS MY PHONE NUMBER,_ " Papyrus finished. So, their hangout ended, and the humans and boss monster headed out of Papyrus's house exchanging their goodbyes. They were now ready to move on to Waterfall, though they wondered what Undyne had in store for them.

* * *

 _Author's Note_

I felt kinda bad writing about the horrifying nightmare the little Azzy had, but I did it anyway. I was so wrong when I said this one wasn't gonna be as long the last chapter. Also, MY GOD, THIS TOOK A LONG TIME TO DO. Now that I think about it, the next chapter may take just as long, possibly, even _longer_ , since it's going to cover _the entirety_ of Waterfall. Sorry about that. By the way, reviews from you guys would be very much appreciated. And make sure you check my new Tumblr for general updates on writing progress, or if you want to ask me any questions. Unfortunately, I'm unable to check my Tumblr while at school (between 7:30 and 3:30), so try not to ask me anything then. The URL of my Tumblr is on my profile. Well, that's all for now! See you later!


	9. Revelation to a Skeleton

**For those of you who ignored the description:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED ALL UNDERTALE ENDINGS AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "StoryShift"!**

* * *

 _ **Waterfall…**_

"And that was the first time I tried baking sugar cookies! I'm such a great cook!" Asriel concluded, finishing his little story.

*Frisk looks at Chara, about to ask if Asriel actually did cook perfect sugar cookies when he was 4, but Chara was glaring at them, so they decided against it.

I've gotta be more careful than that, Chara murmured in her mind. I guess I let my guard down when we were in Snowdin because it made me feel more at ease. Can't let that happen again. They may not have done anything yet… but they might just be waiting for the perfect opportunity.

"YO!" A voice shouted, attracting the trio's attention. The voice came from a gecko looking Monster who was about as tall as Frisk, but for some reason, he seemed to be lacking arms.

*Frisk says 'Hi,' asking what the Monster's name is.

"I'm MK! Please don't tell my parents I'm here… but I'm sneaking out to see her!"

"'Her?' Who do you mean?" Asriel asked.

"YO, you don't know UNDYNE?! She's Captain of the Royal Guard, and she's just the coolest! I wanna be just like her when I grow up!"

"What makes her so cool?" MK looked at Asriel like he had gone insane.

"Have you been living under a rock?! She was the one who got the second last human soul we need to get outta here!" Chara and Frisk visibly tensed up at his declaration. If Undyne managed to take the soul of the previous human to fall, then they were in serious trouble as long as they were in Waterfall. They needed to be careful.

" **hey, kiddos,** " a familiar voice spoke up. The three turned to see Sans behind another sentry station.

"Hi, Sans! What's up?" Asriel asked.

"And what are you doing here? Aren't you a sentry near the entrance to the Ruins?" Chara wondered, somewhat perplexed.

" **what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before? fortunately for me, two jobs mean twice as many legally required breaks. in fact, i'm about to go on break. wanna go to grillby's and hang out for a bit?** "

"Uh… sure." Chara answered.

" **alright. if you insist, i'll pry myself away from my work…** " Sans walked around the station to lead his new friends in the opposite direction of Grillby's, but Chara beat him to it.

" **uhh… kid? where are ya going?** " Sans asked.

Chara simply grinned smugly and said, "Don't worry. I know a shortcut." And with that, Chara led Sans, Asriel, and Frisk through the archway to the next area of Waterfall… only to end up back inside Grillby's.

"Fast shortcut, huh?" Chara said.

 _ **what in the…?**_ Sans said internally, his eyes blacking out for a moment, _**how is it possible that this kid can use shortcuts?**_

"Umm, Sans?" Asriel asked, grabbing the skeleton's attention, "What's wrong? Your eyes just kinda… faded out."

" **oh, nothing, kid. i just had no idea your 'sis' knew how to use shortcuts,** " Sans answered, making a mental note to investigate her power later, " **whatever, we're here now, so that's that.** "

The four ended up walking up to the bar counter after saying "hi" to all of the patrons and after Sans made a pun about "brunch." Once up to the bar counter, Sans told them to take a seat, they sat down, causing the air to be pushed out of the whoopie cushions on the seats. This resulted in Frisk and Asriel blushing deeply.

" **whoops. you need to be careful where ya sit. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats,** " Sans proceeded to sit down himself, and another whoopee cushion went off, " **huh?** "

"Nice little prank, Sans. Hope you don't mind that I sorta flipped it around on ya." Chara replied, with a bit of snark. Almost the entire restaurant's population laughed at how Chara turned Sans's prank on him.

" **heh. nice one kid,** " Sans said good-naturedly, " **anyway, let's order. whaddya want?** "

"Nothing. The three of us had breakfast not too long ago." Asriel pointed out.

" **if you say so. hey, grillby. i'll have a single order of the burg.** " Grillby nodded, walking into the kitchen. Sans, for some reason, pulled a comb out of his shorts' pockets and began combing his skull. It was a bizarre action, but nobody questioned it because… it's Sans. He doesn't need an explanation.

" **so,** " Sans started, grabbing the kids' attention, " **what do you three think of my brother?** "

"Well… um… he's… certainly very special…" Chara said, trying not to anger Sans.

*Frisk says that Papyrus is cool. So does Asriel.

" **of course he's cool. you'd be cool too if you wore an outfit like his all the time.** " Sans very clearly did a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" to Asriel, causing him to blush slightly, " **he'd only ever take it off if he really had to.** "

"Seriously?" Asriel asked, surprised.

" **yeah. oh well. at least he washes it. and by that i mean he washes it by wearing it in the shower,** " Sans explained. Chara immediately started sniggering. " **yeah, laugh it up, kid,** " Grillby came back with Sans' food after about a minute. Sans, of course, decided not to put some ketchup on his burger, instead electing to chug the ketchup bottle. Again, nobody questioned why.

" **anyway, cool or not, ya have to admit that Papyrus tries real hard. like how he keeps trying to join the royal guard.** "

"Oh, I know what you mean. I get the same thing from Asriel non-stop," Chara replied, glancing at Asriel for a moment before turning back to Sans, "Obviously, he can't get in right now because, well, he's only 10."

" **really now? well, once he gets older, he'll probably have no problem gettin' in. i mean, since he's boss monster, his magic is pretty strong, right?** "

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Chara was still unsure about Asriel joining the royal guard. He was powerful, even for a boss monster, but he was just entirely against hurting people. But that thought was disregarded as Sans continued.

" **alright, so like I was sayin', Papyrus has been tryin' real hard to join the royal guard. in fact, there was this one day when he actually tried going to the head of the royal guard's house and just begged her to him let join. 'course, she slammed the door on him since it was the middle of the night,** " The three kids started giggling, " **yeah, it's kinda funny. but when she woke up the next morning, he was still waitin' there.** "

"Wow… he's so determined!" Asriel fanboyed.

" **yeah, he sure is. and the captain of the royal guard could see it. in fact, she was so impressed by his dedication that she decided to give him warrior training. it's… uh… still a work in progress.** "

"I can tell. I mean, his attacks were strong, but they weren't that hard to dodge." Chara stated.

*Frisk pouts, puffing out their cheeks and grumbling that Chara should speak for herself.

"Well, it's not my fault that you haven't had any combat training," Chara replied flatly. After that, there was a small pause before Sans started speaking again.

" **hey, i just remembered. i wanted to ask you something.** "

"What is it?" Asriel asked.

" **have you ever heard of a talking flower?** " Sans asked, sounding serious now.

"…Yeah… Why?" Chara asked, her interest piqued.

" **so you know all about it… the echo flower. i think ya already know about them, so i won't waste time by explainin' them.** "

"Yeah, we know about them. But why did you bring them up?"

" **well, papyrus told me something… interesting… a few days ago. he said that sometimes when no one's around… a flower appears and… whispers things to him. things like flattery… advice… encouragement… predictions.** "

The three kids quickly understood what, or should I say who, Sans was talking about.

" **it's pretty weird, huh? i think someone might be using an echo flower to mess with-** "

"I don't think that's what this is." Chara interrupted. Sans looked to her with a confused expression.

" **whaddya mean?** " Sans asked wearing a suspicious expression.

*Frisk tells Sans that the talking flower Papyrus mentioned is probably the one called "Flowey." They then go into great detail about their first encounter with him. How he pretended to be nice and then tried to kill them sadistically.

Sans's smile faltered and his eyes faded out, and for good reason. He had just realized that his brother's life might be in danger.

" **huh. well, thanks for telling me that. i better let Papyrus know. anyway, if ya ever see him again, let me know, 'kay?** "

The three agreed.

" **thanks. well, I'll see ya later.** "

"We should get going, too," Chara said. With that, the kids left Grillby's so they could start making their way through Waterfall.

* * *

 _ **Later…**_

After the waterfall with falling rocks, the kids entered an area where the path was blocked off by very tall grass. After they started making their way through, Chara stopped them. She pointed up to the ledge next to them. Standing up there was a tall armored figure… and Papyrus? Then they started talking, but it was difficult to make out. The kids could not hear what the armored figure was saying, but they could hear Papyrus.

" _H… HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT… !_ " Said Papyrus.

 _So that's Undyne…_ Chara thought, remembering what Papyrus said. Hearing that this was Undyne immediately made Chara think the TV star "Ultimate Undyne" that Asriel was obsessed with.

"Good. Now… not too long ago I had heard about not one, but two humans. I had heard they had made their way through Snowdin." Undyne growled, her voice Frisk and Asriel shudder in fear. It seemed she hated to just talk about humans, "Did you see them…?"

"… _NO, UNDYNE. I DID NOT FIND THE EVIL, VILE HUMANS. BUT I ASSURE YOU THAT IF I DID, I WOULD FIGHT THEM VERY VALIANTLY! SINCE THAT IS THE ASSIGNMENT, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME AS A FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!_ "

"Papyrus… you aren't lying to me… are you?" Undyne hissed, throwing Papyrus off guard.

" _N-NO! OF COURSE NOT! W-WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?!_ "

"Because… I can tell that the humans are here… they're close… I can feel it. And when I get my hands on them… I'll rip their souls out with my bare hands."

" _B-BUT UNDYNE! W-WHAT IF THE HUMANS AREN'T EVIL LIKE YOU SAY THEY ARE? WHAT IF THEY-_ " Papyrus was suddenly cut off by Undyne when she turned to him menacingly. Though nothing was said, Papyrus got the message, " _…NO. YOU'RE RIGHT. THAT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY. I WILL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN._ "

"Good… now carry on." Undyne whispered, and Papyrus left, glancing down at the kids with a nervous expression. Undyne looked that way too, but she didn't see anything, so she went also.

After waiting a minute to make sure Undyne wouldn't come back, the kids finally exited the tall grass and moved on. Soon after completing the flower bridge puzzle, courtesy of Asriel, they entered the Wishing Room. Although Chara knew that the so-called "wishing stones" were not actually able grant wishes, but Chara silently wished to understand why everything in the Underground so vastly different.

A little later, the kids ended up on a long dock in an equally long, dark corridor. They walked forward until Chara… stopped.

"What's the matter, Chara?" Asriel asked.

"I don't know… something just doesn't feel right." Chara answered. Her suspicions were proven correct when a blue spear came out of nowhere and barreled straight through Chara's head… or at least it would have if Frisk hadn't tackled her out of the way, causing the spear to miss them both. Chara looked up and saw what she'd been praying to avoid.

 _Undyne._

* * *

 _Author's Note_

I am so sorry this took so long... I really hope I won't be so lazy for the next chapter...


End file.
